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Taken April 2003 from Madrid to Milan Malpensa via Zurich

I could of course have halved the journey time here and taken a direct flight, but I refuse to fly Iberia, and I'm not a member of any Alitalia/Skyteam FFP. Besides, Swiss (or Swissair as they were previously known) is one of my favourite airlines and this journey was a pleasure from beginning to end. Plus I also got the chance to accumulate mileage on the excellent TravelClub FFP.

On both sectors the business cabin was only a quarter full: I'm not sure if it was a quiet day or an indication that the airline is not doing very well. In any case I really enjoyed having the extra space and quiet.

Transit time in Zurich was just one hour and we arrived 15 minutes early in Milan. My only gripe is that Swiss use Malpensa airport instead of the much handier Linate, 6 miles from the city. This was actually enforced on all airlines by the Italian government 5 years ago, although many some European carriers, noticeably BA and Lufthansa, operate from both and it would be great if Swiss were allowed to do the same.

At the time of writing Swiss are denying rumours of a takeover by Lufthansa, and insist they have good liquidity. But they are still in pursuit of membership of a major airline alliance and look to be on increasingly shaky ground. Fingers crossed they don't go the same way as their predecessor.