LEISURE AIRLINE Edelweiss Air has marked a major milestone in Swiss aviation by taking delivery of its first Airbus A350-900. The widebody aircraft, registered HB-IHF (c/n 363), landed at Zurich Airport on March 13 after arriving from Tarbes/Lourdes in France. This is the first A350 to carry a Swiss registration, beating sister carrier SWISS, which is still awaiting its own inaugural A350 delivery.
The five-year-old airframe was originally flown by LATAM Airlines Brasil between December 2019 and January 2021. The jet was then stored at Victorville in Southern California until October 2023. Lufthansa Group acquired the airframe and during 2024 it spent time in Shannon in Ireland, Teruel in France and Hanoi in Vietnam being prepared for entry into service. Edelweiss put on a show for the hundreds of spectators who turned out to watch the aircraft’s arrival. During its initial approach to Zurich, the widebody performed a pre-planned go-around manoeuvre and made a celebratory lap of the airport before finally touching down on runway 16 at just after 1500hrs local time.