Tag Archives: Switzerland

Swiss reports CHF 30.7 million operating result for the first-quarter period

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has reported an operating result (Adjusted EBIT) of CHF 30.7 million for the seasonally weak first quarter of 2024. The result is some CHF 48 million below the prior-year period (Q1 2023: CHF 78.4 million). Total first-quarter revenues for 2024 amounted to CHF 1.2 billion, up 8.1 per cent on their prior-year level.

“As anticipated, the exceptional market conditions that our industry experienced immediately after the pandemic have continued to fade,” explains SWISS Chief Financial Officer Markus Binkert. “Demand for travel remains high. But many airlines have further increased their capacities. This is tending to bring yields down from their prior-year levels – at our company, too. We have also seen a sizeable weakening in our air cargo business, which benefited from particularly strong tailwinds during COVID times.”

SWISS’s first-quarter earnings were also reduced by rising costs. In addition to the adverse effects of inflation and higher fuel prices, a rise in personnel costs was particularly felt as the terms of the new collective labour agreements for cockpit and cabin personnel were reflected in staff expense.

“Given that the first quarter of the year tends to be one of the weaker ones for seasonal reasons, we are satisfied with this earnings result,” CFO Binkert continues. “Our business has returned to normality at a high level. For our full-year results, though, the next two seasonally strong quarters will be key.”

Focus on stability and punctuality in the peak travel season

Having delivered a solid business and operating performance over the Easter period, SWISS is now preparing for the busy summer travel months. In doing so, the company is putting customer satisfaction firmly centrestage.

“Last year we were Europe’s stablest airline,” CEO Dieter Vranckx explains. “We want to be so this summer, too, and offer our customers the kind of reliability that they should be able to expect from us. For a premium airline like ours, though, stability alone is not enough. So this year we aim to substantially improve our flights’ punctuality as well, in collaboration with our partners. To this end we have launched a companywide programme that is firmly focused on the satisfaction of our customers. We’re already working intensively on this, and are developing a wide range of actions to help us achieve these objectives.”

Passenger volume growth

SWISS transported some 3.7 million passengers in the first three months of 2024 – just under 17 per cent more than in the same period last year. Almost 31,000 flights were operated in the period, a 14.5-per-cent increase on the first quarter of 2023. Systemwide, first-quarter production was raised 11.6 per cent in available-seat-kilometre terms. Total first-quarter traffic volume, measured in revenue passenger-kilometres, was up 11.3 per cent. Systemwide seat load factor for the first-quarter period stood at 80.7 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points from its prior-year level.

Swiss aircraft photo gallery:

Swiss to reinvent itself as the “Next-Generation Airline of Switzerland” with 22 new European routes and a new cabin design

Swiss International Air Lines (Zurich) is reinventing its European network with 22 new routes from Zurich for the next summer season and a new cabin look. The new strategy is called the “Next-Generation Airline of Switzerland”. The airline issued this statement:

Swiss (styled as “SWISS”) will be investing billions of Swiss francs in advanced aircraft, attractive destinations and further product enhancements over the next few years as part of its “Next-Generation Airline of Switzerland” strategy. The airline will be adding 22 new European destinations to its Zurich network with the start of the 2015 summer schedules, and will also be commencing a new Geneva-Lugano service. On board, meanwhile, the carrier will introduce a new-look cabin on its European Airbus fleet from the end of November onwards, along with fresh new Swiss products for its inflight foodservice in the Swiss Economy cabin.

Swiss, The Airline of Switzerland, will be investing several billion Swiss francs in its aircraft fleet and in making its products and services even more appealing to its guests. In doing so, it will also be putting an even firmer focus on the Swiss population’s air travel needs, and on keeping Switzerland even better connected with the world.

New European destinations from Zurich and Geneva

From the start of the 2015 summer schedules, Swiss will be supplementing its traditional hub concept with a new point-to-point system and expanding its Zurich-based European network through the addition of 22 new destinations. Sixteen of the new points – Naples, Bari, Bilbao, Porto, Toulouse, Leipzig, Dresden, Graz, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Riga, Krakow, Ljubljana, Sarajevo, Sofia and Zagreb – will be provided with year-round service, while six of them – Palermo, Brindisi, Malta, Thessaloniki, Izmir and Santiago de Compostela – will be served in the summer months. Parallel to this, Swiss will also be expanding its range of services from and to Geneva, with the addition of 16 weekly Geneva-Lugano flights. The innovations will give Swiss a highly attractive timetable with more nonstop connections than ever, to meet the needs of the Swiss people, the Swiss economy and the Swiss tourist sector.

Refurbishment of the European Airbus fleet

Swiss will also be introducing extensive innovations for its European aircraft fleet. Work will begin this November on a number of enhancements to its Airbus A320s and A321s that will also increase their seating capacity. By adopting a new type of seat which offers more legroom than at present, the new configurations will offer passengers the same comfort levels as today, and even more comfort in the Business Class section. At the same time, capacity will be increased by 12 seats on the A320 and by 19 seats on the A321. The new cabin interiors (including the seat covers) will also be modified to the style already seen in the Swiss Lounges and on the long-haul fleet. The first A320-family aircraft with the new-style cabin will be back in service towards the end of November.

New Swiss Economy foodservice on European flights

The refurbishment of the European Airbus fleet will also see the adoption of a new foodservice concept for the Swiss Economy cabin. Under the new approach, all the products will be sourced fresh daily from local Swiss producers. And these will include – depending on the flight’s length – warm quiches, fresh bakery items or (on longer flights) fresh salads and warm desserts. The meals will also be served in an attractive new packaging. As a result of these innovations, Swiss will now offer quality Swiss products in Swiss Economy on all European flights.

Billions of investment in one of the most advanced aircraft fleets

Swiss is continuously investing in its aircraft fleet. On the short- and medium-haul front the airline will be taking delivery of 30 new Bombardier CS100s from next year onwards to replace the present Avro (BAe) RJ100 fleet. The Airbus fleet will be further expanded with the arrival of a new Airbus A321ceo in 2016. And between 2019 and 2022 Swiss will add ten state-of-the-art new Airbus A320neos and five Airbus A321neos to its fleet to replace ten of its older A320s and five A321s. Swiss also holds ten further options on A320neo-family aircraft. And on the long-haul front, six Boeing 777-300 ERs will join the Swiss fleet from 2016 onwards. All in all, the new aircraft represent a total investment of some CHF 5 billion.

Swiss: