An airline’s first-class seats are too heavy. Its planes now need even more weight to fix it.

The weight of the device is unknown, but Swiss said it will be determined “once the new cabin interior is installed, and appropriate precise measurements can be made.”

The outcome of these hefty first-class seats is not ideal for Swiss or its customers. The added weight will increase fuel burn and could shorten the range of Swiss’ A330s and reduce its cargo capacity, making the jets more expensive to fly.

To further save where it can, Swiss has also opted to remove the sliding doors from business class — a high-demand privacy perk that could make its premium cabin less competitive with other long-haul operators.

Swiss is one of the few transatlantic airlines still offering international first-class travel. It operates alongside the likes of Lufthansa, Air France, and British Airways, but Swiss is the only major carrier offering a first-class cabin on all of its long-haul planes.

In fact, the carrier was named the best first-class airline in Europe at the 2024 World Travel Awards, while Skytrax ranked Swiss as the fourth-best first-class airline among all global carriers this year.