Swiss A330-300 arrives in Muscat equipped with all-new technology air cushion Business Class seats

Passengers from Muscat also made history as they boarded the inaugural Muscat-Dubai-Zurich flight which took off at 23:40.

"As the second market to receive the all-new A330-300, we are marking another milestone for Swiss operations here in Muscat and this reiterates the importance of servicing passengers from the region. With our new offering, our passengers are assured of more comfort and convenience that uniquely speaks of Swiss hospitality,"

said Peter Schilter, Country Manager for Swiss and Lufthansa in Oman.

The new aircraft is part of the fleet renewal programme of Swiss with investments reaching well over $878m which involves the replacement of smaller aircrafts to the nine new Airbus A330-300s. With the complete delivery of the fleet by 2011, the investment is expected to raise earning capacity of the airline. Also, the new aircraft will reduce Swiss's CO2 emissions by around 13%.

The heart of the A330-300 is the new Business Class Seat which offers premium passengers optimum travel comfort with a state-of-the-art air cushion for adjustable comfort in all positions. Passengers will have more personal space and enjoy sleeping with the 2-meter (79') fully horizontal lie-flat seat which is also equipped with a massage function. Inflight entertainment has been improved to carry larger screens in 16:9 format and plugs for USB and iPod.

Swiss is the first airline to offer the revolutionary air comfort system to passengers enabling individual settings of whether to have a firmness of a futon or softness of a waterbed. The air cushion is placed in all body-contact areas such as back-rest, seat-cushion and leg-rest. The air cushion enables seat weight reduction, leading to lower fuel consumption for the A330-300.

The air cushion technology is a joint innovation project by Swiss and Swiss industry market leader Lantal, in cooperation with select frequent flyer customers.

This summer, Swiss operates, daily flights from Muscat, Oman, non-stop daily flights from Dubai to Zurich, five weekly flights from Cairo and four weekly flights from Riyadh and Jeddah. Overall, Swiss offers a comprehensive network of 90 destinations in 42 countries.