SWISS International Air Lines | News, deals and offers from SWISS

SWISS is adopting a new fare concept which will guarantee customers lowest ticket prices from Switzerland within Europe, that are no more than CHF 199. Certain other fares will be slightly increased at the same time in the light of general cost developments.

SWISS is treating passengers to menu creations by Heiko Nieder, Chef Fine Dining at The Restaurant in Dolder Grand, as part of its culinary concept, SWISS Taste of Switzerland.

SWISS customers can now book their flights online from their mobile phone. The new portal created for the service also features further useful information on departure and arrival times along with SWISS’s full flight schedules.

SWISS is substantially reducing its current fuel surcharges. The action is being taken in view of the decline in the prices of crude oil and jet fuel over the last few weeks, and despite the fact that average fuel prices for 2008 are still substantially above their levels of a year ago.

One of the aircraft of the SWISS fleet now bears the name ‘Fürstentum Liechtenstein’. Airbus A340 HB-JMF was symbolically named last month at Vaduz Castle in the principality’s capital. HSH Princess Marie of Liechtenstein performed the naming in a ceremony that was also attended by members of the Liechtenstein government, the Swiss and Liechtenstein ambassadors, SWISS CEO Christoph Franz, numerous further guests and media representatives.

SWISS customers can now book their flights online from their mobile phone. The new portal created for the service also features further useful information on departure and arrival times along with SWISS’s full flight schedules.

From 26 October 2008 SWISS will begin operating its thrice-daily service between Manchester and Zurich with an Airbus A319, replacing the route’s current 100-seater Fokker operation. The A319s are 124-seater aircraft, representing a 24 per cent increase in seats on this route.

SWISS will be treating its guests to delicacies from the canton of Fribourg. Pierre-André Ayer, chef at the award-winning Le Pérolles restaurant, has designed menus for First and Business Class passengers as part of the SWISS catering concept "SWISS Taste of Switzerland". The creations of the chef from Fribourg will be available on SWISS flights until the end of November.

A SWISS aircraft now bears the name ‘Locarno’. The plane – Airbus A320 HB-IJQ – was symbolically named at a ceremony held in the town during this year’s International Film Festival. The naming was performed by town mayor Carla Speziali, in the presence of festival president Marco Solari, SWISS CEO Christoph Franz, numerous invitees and media representatives.

The prices of crude oil and jet fuel have seen further steep rises to new record levels over the last few weeks. A number of major European airlines have already increased their fuel surcharges in the light of these developments.

SWISS adds its 15th Airbus A340 to its long-haul fleet this month. The aircraft, which bears the registration HB-JMN, took off for Johannesburg for its inaugural flight. The entry-into-service of this latest A340 concludes the expansion of the SWISS Airbus fleet that was embarked upon in November 2006.

SWISS will be further expanding its services in Europe with the start of the new winter schedules on October 26, to the benefit of travellers to and from London City, Istanbul, Valencia and Budapest. SWISS will also be operating Airbus A340 equipment on its Zurich-Dubai-Muscat route from mid-December onwards.

SWISS acquired Zurich-based Servair Private Charter AG this month, July 17. Servair will henceforth be operated as Swiss Private Aviation AG, a fully-owned subsidiary of Swiss International Air Lines AG. The new acquisition should establish the SWISS Group in the business aviation sector and provide a platform for operating the Lufthansa Private Jet fleet.

SWISS Airbus A320 HB-IJS was formally named ‘Kloten’ at Zurich Airport on July 23rd. The naming ceremony was co-conducted by SWISS CEO Christoph Franz and Kloten town mayor René Huber, with various members of the Kloten town and communal councils in attendance. The ceremony was held as part of the weekend’s ‘Terrassenfest’ event at Zurich Airport, to the delight of both invitees and other visitors from throughout Switzerland and abroad.

SWISS will formally acquire Edelweiss Air on November 1, and with the new subsidiary’s Management Board already appointed, SWISS has now announced the composition of the company’s three-member Board of Directors.

The prices of crude oil and jet fuel have seen further steep rises to new record levels over the last few weeks. A number of major European airlines have already increased their fuel surcharges in the light of these developments. SWISS is now following suit, and is adjusting its own fuel surcharges.

SWISS will be joining Lufthansa on its dedicated travel trade programme eXperts, which now includes the newly updated co-branded website lufthansaexperts.com. The site has been designed to improve communications with the trade and offer 24-hour day support with all the latest product and pricing information.

SWISS customers will be able to travel on an electronic ticket to any SWISS destination from June 1 onwards. SWISS will offer electronic tickets (e-tickets) for all its services from June 1 onwards. The extended facility should soon make paperless tickets the norm for all travellers throughout the SWISS network.

SWISS will be raising its fares slightly at the end of May. The price of a SWISS flight from Switzerland will be increased by an average of around 2.5 per cent. With the cost of crude oil having reached new record highs over the past few weeks and months and with little prospect of any easing of the situation even in the mid-to-long-term future, SWISS has decided to follow its competitors and effect a moderate increase to its fares.

SWISS will be offering its customers culinary delights from Bern, Switzerland’s capital, from May 28. Gregor Zimmermann, executive chef at the city’s Bellevue Palace, has concocted some innovative combinations exclusively for SWISS’s First and Business Class travellers in collaboration with foodservice provider Gate Gourmet.

SWISS is adopting a mould-breaking new seating concept for its intercontinental Business Class cabins. The new seats – the first of their kind anywhere in the world – will be gradually installed throughout the SWISS long-haul fleet from spring 2009 onwards. The new seating will give SWISS Business travellers a “bed above the clouds” which is fully reclinable and two metres long.

SWISS inaugurated its new daily service between Switzerland and Shanghai yesterday when flight LX 188 departed from Zurich at 13:05 operated by an Airbus A340. The passengers aboard the first flight included Swiss Federal Councillor and Minister for Economic Affairs Doris Leuthard.

Swiss International Air Lines has been voted joint number-one for Europe – together with Austrian Airlines und Lufthansa – in the classic scheduled airline segment in the 2008 ‘Airline of the Year’ survey of the readers of Germany’s Capital magazine. SWISS was also placed sixth among intercontinental carriers, level with Lufthansa.

WEKO, the Swiss Competition Commission, has given its green light for the merger of the two airlines. The authorities have not imposed any special conditions. Edelweiss Air will continue to operate as an independent member company of the Swiss Group. Kuoni remains Edelweiss Air’s biggest customer.

SWISS and US Airways have concluded a new codeshare agreement that will offer both partners’ customers an even wider selection of air destinations. SWISS travellers will be able to fly from Zurich to Philadelphia on US Airways-operated flights from April 26 onwards; and US Airways customers will have onward connections from Zurich operated by SWISS to ten new European destinations.