SWISS marks its 20th anniversary
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its foundation this year. The first-ever SWISS flight was performed from Basel to Zurich on 31 March 2002. The airline has been keeping Switzerland connected with the world ever since.
→ Closure of Russian airspace forces airlines to find new routes to Asia.
“If it weren’t for the great loyalty of our customers, the strong commitment of our employees in the air and on the ground, our fruitful collaborations with our airport partners and our suppliers and – not least – the firm support that we have received from the Swiss people, the Swiss political world and the banks, including in the present pandemic times, SWISS would simply not be one of the leading airlines today,” says company CEO Dieter Vranckx.
An eventful history
SWISS’s early years, following its creation on the foundations of Crossair and of Swissair’s flight operations, were marked by rigorous restructurings and uncertainties over its continued viability. An initially oversized aircraft fleet had to be substantially downscaled, together with the original workforce, before the new company could generate profits from its flight operations.
The new SWISS also lacked the critical mass required to survive alone in the fiercely competitive air travel market. Such critical mass was secured in 2005, however, through the company’s integration into the Lufthansa Group. From then on, SWISS was able to benefit from the group’s strength and synergies, and achieved its financial turnaround as early as the following year.
→ Iberia to recover 85% of its capacity this summer.
The next SWISS milestone was also in 2006, when the company joined Star Alliance, the world’s biggest airline grouping. One year later Delhi became the first new intercontinental destination to be added to the SWISS route network since the airline’s foundation. It was followed by Shanghai (2008), San Francisco (2010), Beijing (2012) and Singapore (2013), all key points for Switzerland and all served with non-stop flights. Two further long-haul destinations – Washington and Osaka – were due to be added in 2020, but had such plans shelved by the coronavirus pandemic.
SWISS today serves 92 destinations from its Zurich hub and 46 points from Geneva. It carries more passengers and cargo than any Swiss airline has ever transported in the past. And together with its sister airline Edelweiss, which also joined the Lufthansa Group in 2008, the company is very well positioned in the premium business and leisure air travel segments.
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