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Swiss - New Business Class
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. The lie-flat seats will also set new benchmarks with their air cushion feature, which allows seat hardness to be set for each seating position to meet individual wishes and needs. The new SWISS Business cabin should be installed aboard around a third of the carrier’s long-haul fleet by the end of next year.
SWISS’s consistent pursuit of its ongoing quality drive will soon be delivering tangible benefits for SWISS Business customers in the form of a unique new seating concept for the carrier’s long-haul aircraft. The new SWISS Business Seat offers optimum travel comfort. The seat can be fully reclined to a lie-flat position offering a “bed above the clouds” that is two metres long. And that’s not all: the new seat also features a world first in the form of an air cushion that extends throughout its length. Hard as a futon, soft as a water bed or any level in between: the choice is the customer’s. The new seat boasts further extras, too, such as an integrated massage function, USB and iPod sockets and a bigger 16:9-format inflight entertainment screen. The new SWISS Business Seat is also a further consistent element in the SWISS corporate identity.
The new seats and their arrangement will also offer a high degree of privacy and mobility within the cabin. Virtually all the seats will have direct aisle access, putting every traveller next to an aisle for loadings of up to 90%.
New comfort highs for the entire long-haul fleet:
Work will begin next spring on installing the new SWISS Business Seat throughout the SWISS long-haul fleet. The new Airbus A330-300s which will join the fleet from 2009 onwards will all feature the new seats. In addition to the innovative new seating concept, their entire interior will be consistently aligned to customer needs. The Airbus A340s, the biggest aircraft in the SWISS fleet, will also be equipped with the new SWISS Business Seat. Under the current schedule, around one-third of the SWISS long-haul fleet should be fitted with the new SWISS Business cabin in 2009. A large proportion of the fleet will be refurbished in 2010; and all SWISS Business customers should be enjoying a truly excellent inflight seating and sleeping experience on all SWISS long-haul flights by 2011.
“We are extremely proud to have helped develop this global seating innovation, together with several hundred of our customers,” says SWISS CEO Christoph Franz. “And we are particularly delighted to be the first airline in the world to offer these substantially-enhanced levels of on-board seating and sleeping comfort.”
“Our new SWISS Business Seat is a further consistent step in our ongoing quality drive that has been under way for more than three years now,” adds SWISS Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer Christoph Beckmann. “SWISS continues to invest in adding value for its customers. And the rightness of our strategy is fully confirmed by our business results: we have seen above-average growth in the use of our Business and First Class since our quality drive began; and this has further strengthened our position and our profile as a genuine quality airline.”
News: Swiss expands its winter schedules
SWISS will add its first new long-haul destination – Delhi – to its network in the coming winter schedules. SWISS’s European services from Basel and Geneva will also see some seasonal modifications. And capacity on the Zurich-Berlin route will be increased by around 33% through the provision of an additional daily flight. SWISS will fly to 71 destinations in 42 countries in its winter schedules, or 85 destinations including those served jointly with codeshare partners. The winter timetable period runs from October 28, 2007 to March 29, 2008.
SWISS continues to grow and expand in response to demand. Eleven Airbus A340s are now in operation with Switzerland’s national airline (the latest addition entered service on September 21), and a further A340 will join them at the beginning of 2008.
The new aircraft are enabling SWISS to further expand its long-haul operations. The latest A340 will soon be deployed onto the Zurich-Chicago route, restoring a First Class option to these services; and the Airbus A330 freed up in the process will be used to operate a new daily service between Zurich and Delhi which will commence on November 25.
Delhi becomes SWISS’s second destination (after Mumbai) in the rapidly-growing Indian market. The new route is a clear response to rising market demand for direct service between Switzerland and Delhi, among business travellers in particular but also in the tourism sector.
Strong increases in demand have also been seen for service to and from China, especially among the business community. Indeed, China is Switzerland’s second-biggest Asian trading partner. That demand will be met from early summer 2008 onwards with new non-stop SWISS services to and from Shanghai. The original starting date for such service – the start of the 2008 summer schedules – is being moved back, however, owing to a delay in the delivery of the further Airbus A340 which will be operated on the route. First flight is now planned for May 9 2008.
Demand-driven adjustments in Europe SWISS will also offer an additional frequency between Zurich and Berlin from the start of the winter schedules on October 28, raising service on the route to four daily flights. The new service, which will be operated by an Airbus A320-family aircraft, means that SWISS customers will enjoy both early-morning and late-evening non-stop connections to and from Berlin, and will be able to choose from no fewer than seven SWISS and Lufthansa non-stop services a day to and from the city.
SWISS will also be introducing a new weekly service between Geneva and Manchester to meet the seasonal demand for such connections during the winter months. Manchester will be served every Sunday between December 16 and March 23 using Avro RJ100 equipment. SWISS will further operate a second Saturday service between Geneva and Moscow between December 29 and March 29. This, too, is in response to customer demand: Switzerland is seeing a steady increase in winter sports visitors from Russia. SWISS will thus provide non-stop service to nine destinations from Geneva in the winter schedules, or 22 including those served in collaboration with codeshare partners.
SWISS’s route network from Basel will also undergo seasonal modifications. From November 11 to March 16 a fourth weekly flight will be added to the Basel-Manchester route. The new service will operate every Sunday. And Prague will also receive a fifth weekly service from Basel between November 6 and February 26. Both new services are being provided to meet customer demand for flights to Switzerland during the winter season.
Codeshare destinations On the partnership front, SWISS has further expanded its codeshare collaboration with fellow Star Alliance carrier TAP Portugal. A new daily SWISS/TAP codeshare service was introduced between Zurich and Oporto on September 15. The flights are operated by TAP subsidiary Portugália.
Elsewhere, the SWISS codeshare service between Zurich and Skopje, in collaboration with and operated by Macedonian Airlines, will be withdrawn on November 28. And Malaysia Airlines will be withdrawing its Kuala Lumpur-Zurich service, which it has also been operating as a codeshare flight with SWISS, on January 24. Despite these developments, however, the SWISS winter schedules will still include 14 destinations served in collaboration with codeshare partners.
Star Alliance Upgrade Awards
Swiss International Air Lines is now the 10th Star Alliance member airline to offer Star Alliance Upgrade Awards, a unique redemption option which enables customers to redeem miles or points from their Frequent Flyer Programme (FFP) accounts for one-class upgrades on scheduled flights operated by the participating Star Alliance member carriers.
Star Alliance, the airline network for Earth™, is the first global airline alliance to offer such a product, which is now available to the (FFP) members of ANA (ANA Mileage Club), Asiana Airlines (Asiana Club), Austrian (Miles & More), LOT Polish Airlines (Miles & More), Lufthansa (Miles & More), Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer), SWISS (Miles & More), TAP Portugal (Victoria), THAI (Royal Orchid Plus) and United (Mileage Plus). More Star Alliance member carriers will begin to offer this product in the future.
“With SWISS now participating in Star Alliance Upgrade Awards, we have again improved our customer proposition in one of our newest home markets – Switzerland”, said Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance.
“With Star Alliance Upgrade Awards, SWISS is pleased to once more offer our customers an additional benefit within the world’s leading airline alliance “, commented SWISS Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Christoph Beckmann.
Star Alliance Upgrade Awards requires a confirmed booking prior to travel which can then be upgraded through the existing FFP redemption channels, in general, either through calling reservations or visiting a website (depending on carrier’s offer). The upgrade is processed electronically, eliminating the need to issue paper certificates to the customers. Both conventional paper tickets as well as electronic tickets can be upgraded under this new scheme. Upgrades are permitted for one class of travel, either from Economy Class to Business Class or from Business Class to First Class*. Additionally, on United flights offering First and Economy Class only, upgrades from Economy to First are possible. As with most FFP redemption products, capacity restrictions apply and upgrades from certain types of fares are not permitted.
Since its inception in 1997, emphasis has been placed by the Star Alliance network on adding value to each member carrier’s FFP by offering alliance-wide benefits to the customers. For instance, Star Alliance was the first airline alliance to offer harmonised benefits for both Gold and Silver Card holders across the network, which include:
Priority Check-In
Star Alliance Gold members can make use of separate check-in desks
Priority Waitlist
Star Alliance Gold and Star Alliance Silver members receive priority waitlisting if the desired flight is already fully booked.
PriorityAirport Standby
Star Alliance Gold and Star Alliance Silver members receive priority standby listing if they arrive at the airport without any reservation for a specific flight (subject to local regulations).
Lounge Access
Star Alliance Gold members have access to more than 660 lounges at airports around the world.
Priority Baggage Tags
Star Alliance Gold members are entitled to priority baggage service across the network.
Increased Baggage Allowance
Star Alliance Gold customers are entitled to one additional piece of checked baggage (piece concept) or an additional 20 kilos (weight concept).
Moreover, Star Alliance is currently the only alliance that provides customers with one point of contact to book and ticket award travel on all other Star Alliance carriers.
(*) Note: not all participating carriers offer First Class
Note: Star Alliance Upgrade Awards are currently not available between Singapore Airlines and Asiana Airlines, TAP and United.
Swiss more choice in 2007 summer schedules
SWISS is offering attractive product innovations in its 2007 summer schedules, with more intercontinental services and a wide range of European connections. With Valencia added to the network, SWISS will serve 70 destinations in 42 countries in its summer timetable. Non-stop service will also be provided between Switzerland and 13 further destinations under codeshare agreements with partner airlines. The SWISS summer timetable will operate from March 25 to October 28, 2007.
SWISS is in the climb, and is expanding its product for the benefit of its customers. The company effected the first-ever expansion of its long-haul fleet last November, adding two further Airbus A330s. These will be followed by the arrival of three more Airbus A340s over the next 12 months. On the short-haul front, in addition to the expansion of the European fleet by three Airbus A320-family aircraft that was announced last year, SWISS will be putting two more Airbus A320s into service sooner than their original introduction date of 2008. The planned expansion is being brought forward to take earlier advantage of existing market opportunities. The two new A320s will now join the SWISS fleet in the first half of 2007. Their arrival will also create a further 50 new jobs among the company’s flying personnel.
The expansions of its European and intercontinental fleets will primarily enable SWISS to increase frequencies to existing destinations in its new summer schedules and thus further align its service patterns to customer needs.
More flexibility for the business traveller
SWISS now offers daily service to and from Tokyo, having increased its weekly frequencies from six to seven on February 19. SWISS is the only airline with non-stop service between Zurich and Japan. From mid-July onwards, SWISS will also provide daily service between Zurich and Los Angeles, Santiago de Chile (via São Paulo) and Johannesburg. All these destinations were previously served six times a week.
The additional flights can be offered thanks to this summer’s arrival of the first further Airbus A340 for the SWISS long-haul fleet. By increasing the flights to these key intercontinental destinations to a daily service pattern, SWISS can offer its customers even more flexibility when planning their travel arrangements.
SWISS has been introducing attractive innovations with its ground product, too. All SWISS flights to and from New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, for example, are now handled at the airport’s Terminal 1. The new terminal location not only features efficient state-of-the-art and customer-friendly passenger handling processes and procedures; it also further facilitates and intensifies the SWISS/Lufthansa collaboration.
More flights and destinations in Europe
SWISS will be operating larger aircraft on its services between Zurich and Düsseldorf, Berlin, Stuttgart and Hamburg from this summer onwards, further consolidating its strong position with Lufthansa in these important markets. SWISS and Lufthansa jointly offer 600 flights a week between Switzerland and Germany. SWISS will also be using larger aircraft to further increase its seating capacity on services to Amsterdam, Belgrade, Copenhagen, Istanbul, Milan, Nice and Stockholm.
In another innovation designed to give customers greater travel flexibility, SWISS will now be providing an additional 20:00 evening departure from Zurich to London City Airport, which is conveniently close to the city centre, while customers from London City will be offered an 07:00 departure for Zurich that should prove especially useful to the business traveller. With the introduction of the new flights, SWISS will offer comprehensive service between Zurich and London City at roughly two-hour intervals.
SWISS customers who travel from Basel and Geneva are benefiting from numerous innovations, too. SWISS’s Basel-based network was expanded from four to ten destinations in mid-January. As a result, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Budapest, London City, Manchester, Nice, Prague, Warsaw and Zurich are now far easier to reach. The new services are also being offered at highly attractive fares.
Service from Geneva will be expanded with the addition of Valencia, which becomes the 70th destination in the SWISS network. As Official Carrier to the Alinghi Team, the defenders in this year’s prestigious America’s Cup sailing competition which will be held in the city, SWISS will be transporting team members and yachting enthusiasts between Geneva and Valencia with its four weekly flights. SWISS also increased its service between Geneva and London City last December, raising it from four to six times a day. Geneva ground services will be boosted in May with the opening of a new joint SWISS/Lufthansa lounge, following an extensive refurbishment and modernisation of the facility over the past few months.
Codeshare agreements
SWISS also offers its customers non-stop service to a further 13 destinations from Switzerland through codeshare agreements with various airline partners. One of these, SAS, will be operating a second daily codeshare flight between Zurich and Oslo from April onwards.
SWISS customers from Geneva enjoy additional flights to Brussels, Copenhagen and Düsseldorf that are operated by Brussels Airlines, SAS and Lufthansa respectively under codeshare collaborations with SWISS. And SWISS now also offers non-stop services between Geneva and Warsaw which are operated by its Star Alliance partner LOT Polish Airlines under a codeshare agreement.
SWISS’s Basel-based network is also supplemented by four further destinations served by partner carriers under codeshare arrangements. Service to Frankfurt, Munich and Düsseldorf is offered under a codeshare agreement with Lufthansa, while Vienna is served in a codeshare with Austrian Airlines.
South African Airways will be withdrawing its non-stop service between Zurich and Johannesburg in May 2007. In view of this, SWISS will not only be extending its own operations on the route to a daily service; it will also be operating all these flights on a codeshare basis with its Star Alliance partner. The new codeshare arrangement will offer SWISS customers an attractive range of onward connections from Johannesburg to selected destinations including Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Windhoek.
The SWISS aircraft fleet for the 2007 summer schedules
SWISS will operate its own services in the 2007 summer timetable with a fleet of 73 aircraft. Of these, 49 (seven Airbus A319s, 16 A320s, six A321s, eleven A330s and nine A340s) will be operated by Swiss International Air Lines, while Swiss European Air Lines will start the summer schedules with a fleet of 24 Avro RJ85/100s.
Greater seating comfort on the European fleet
SWISS passengers will soon enjoy enhanced seating comfort and more generous legroom on all European flights. Having equipped its Airbus A320s with new seating, the airline is now extending its seat upgrade programme to its A321s and A319s. In a further comfort enhancement, SWISS leaves the middle seat free in the Business Class cabin on all its European Airbus flights. The Airbus seat re-equipment programme should be largely completed by the end of March. Attention will then turn to Swiss European’s Avro RJs, which should also have the new lighter and more comfortable seats fitted fleetwide by February 2008.
The new seats not only offer SWISS customers an even pleasanter inflight experience. With their lower weight, they also reduce each flight’s fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, further enhancing the environmental credentials of SWISS’s European aircraft fleet.
Swiss to increase Tokyo service to daily flights
SWISS customers will soon have even more choice in their air travel plans. Already the only airline providing direct flights between Switzerland and Japan, SWISS will be offering daily service on its Zurich-Tokyo route from February onwards. SWISS passengers to and from South America, Africa and the US West Coast will also enjoy a wider range of services soon: SWISS will be raising its weekly frequencies to Los Angeles from five to six in mid-February, and will be offering daily service to Santiago de Chile, São Paulo, Johannesburg and Cairo from July onwards.
Continuing its steady climb, SWISS will, as already announced, take delivery of its first additional Airbus A340 aircraft in July 2007. The new leased-in transport will be used to intensify service on existing routes, enabling the airline to offer further frequencies to various destinations from the coming summer on.
SWISS will increase its service between Zurich and Tokyo to a daily operation from February 19, thanks to its acquisition of a further arrival and departure slot at Tokyo’s Narita Airport. The new daily schedule will offer SWISS passengers even more flexibility when booking their Tokyo flights.
SWISS will also be operating daily to several more of its long-haul destinations from mid-July onwards. Service to Santiago de Chile via São Paulo will be raised from six to seven weekly flights, while travellers to South Africa will be offered daily service to Johannesburg from summer 2007. Cairo will be served by a daily flight all year round from the start of the 2007 summer schedules.
Services to and from the West Coast of the USA are also set to expand. SWISS’s Los Angeles route will see its frequencies raised from five to six a week in February, and to a daily service at a later date.
SWISS has already enlarged its aircraft fleet with the addition of two more Airbus A330s in November and early December. The new arrivals and the three further Airbus A340s whose acquisition has already been communicated will create 550 new jobs among SWISS’s flying personnel alone.
Swiss to introduce services to Delhi and Shanghai
SWISS is to add its first new long-haul destinations to its network, with the introduction of scheduled services to the key cities of Delhi (India) and Shanghai (China). The new routes can be operated thanks to the addition of five further aircraft to the SWISS long-haul fleet, enabling the carrier to both increase frequencies on existing routes and introduce service from Switzerland to new destinations. The addition of Delhi and Shanghai should both boost the Swiss economy and enhance Switzerland’s vacation appeal.
SWISS is growing, at a steady and sustainable pace. Since last November, Switzerland’s national airline has added five Airbus A320-family aircraft to its European fleet and has introduced two further Airbus A330s and (from July 20) an additional A340 on its intercontinental network. Two more Airbus A340 aircraft will also be added to the SWISS long-haul fleet by spring 2008.
As a result of this fleet expansion, SWISS will introduce service to Delhi (India) in its 2007/08 winter timetable, and will add Shanghai (China) to its network in the 2008 summer schedules. “In extending our network to Delhi and Shanghai, we are both strengthening the Swiss economy and promoting Switzerland as a tourist destination,” says SWISS CEO Christoph Franz. Delhi will be served with Airbus A330 aircraft from November 25, 2007, while the service to Shanghai, which will begin on March 30, 2008, will be provided using Airbus A340 equipment.
India: a key growth market
Delhi will be SWISS’s second destination (after Mumbai) in the emerging Indian market. “It’s the rapid growth in this market, the strong business ties between the two countries and the high demand for air services from non-government and non-profit organisations, too, that have prompted us to add Delhi to our network as our second Indian destination,” says Harry Hohmeister, Chief Network & Distribution Officer at SWISS. The new route also offers sizeable potential for tourist traffic, from both the Swiss and the Indian source markets.
Swiss exports to India have more than doubled over the past three years, increasing 36% in 2006 alone. Imports of Indian products and services to Switzerland are also rising rapidly, and recorded 11% year-on-year growth last year.
First direct service between Zurich and Shanghai With China now Switzerland’s second-most-important trading partner in Asia, the demand for business travel between Zurich and Shanghai has considerably increased. Calls have also been growing in the tourism sector for a direct Zurich-Shanghai connection.
Apart from flights to and from Hong Kong, no direct services currently exist between Switzerland and China. With Air China and Shanghai Airlines due to join Star Alliance next year, SWISS should also soon be able to collaborate with two well-established local airline partners to offer its customers attractive onward connections from Shanghai to other Chinese destinations.
Beijing is also set to appear in the SWISS timetable next spring, under a codeshare operation with Lufthansa via Munich. “Our new services should ensure that Switzerland enjoys attractive air connections with what is currently the world’s fastest-growing market,” CEO Christoph Franz continues.
Swiss exports to China have increased by more than 35% over the last three years. Imports of Chinese products and services to Switzerland are also seeing substantial growth, and rose 16% last year.
Schedules coordinated with Lufthansa for more customer choice SWISS and Lufthansa will also be coordinating the schedules of their services to Delhi and Shanghai to offer valuable convenience benefits to all their customers. As a result, travellers will be able to fly from Zurich to Delhi or Shanghai either directly on SWISS or via Frankfurt or Munich with Lufthansa. The harmonised timetables will offer customers a choice of three different departure times, and a flexibility that will be particularly appreciated by business travellers. The collaboration is further confirmation of Lufthansa’s multi-hub strategy centred on Zurich, Munich and Frankfurt airports.
SWISS generates jobs
Having successfully completed its corporate restructuring, SWISS has given itself the scope to invest in its fleet, its network and its product. The present fleet expansion is also creating new jobs – around 600 of them among the company’s flying personnel alone, or an increase of some 10% on present workforce numbers.
SWISS’s expansion is generating new jobs in related fields, too, such as technical services, catering and ground handling. “Every long-haul aircraft we add to our fleet creates about as many jobs as will be found in a small or medium-sized enterprise in Switzerland,” Christoph Franz points out. “So here, too, our fleet expansion is generating added value for the Swiss economy
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