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How SWISS is expanding flight connections this year

The Swiss airline has unveiled its new 2023/2024 winter timetable which sees the introduction of new destinations and increased frequencies on existing routes.

Published: 30 May 2023 17:12 CEST
How SWISS is expanding flight connections this year
White and Red Airplane on Airport

The Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) fleet will now take off from Zurich Airport and Geneva Airport and head to 68 short and medium-haul destinations – a broader selection than in the previous winter period. The move, the airline says, comes in response to the continuing strong demand for air travel.

“We are pleased to be offering the many people who are currently showing such a strong desire to travel an even broader range of routes and services in our coming winter schedules,” said SWISS Chief Commercial Officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour. “And, in doing so, to be continuing on our present path of steady and stable growth.”

Moreover, SWISS is significantly reducing the number of so-called ‘wet-lease flights’ during the coming winter with the aim of halving the number of flights operated by both Air Baltic and Helvetic Airways on behalf of the airline during the winter months.

The 2023/2024 winter timetable period will run from October 29th, 2023, to March 30th, 2024.

Zurich Airport

Passengers travelling via Zurich Airport will be pleased to know that SWISS will be offering a total of 63 short and medium-haul destinations in its coming winter schedules, which is four more than in the 2022/2023 winter timetable.

The airline has reintroduced flights from Zurich to Bremen in Northern Germany aimed at both leisure and business travellers, with flights leaving Zurich Airport four times each week. SWISS previously offered flights to Bremen in its winter 2018/2019 timetable, however, the flights were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to Bremen, SWISS will also increase its flights from Zurich to several German cities, with six more weekly flights to Düsseldorf, four more to Hamburg and an additional two to Hanover (compared to winter 2022/2023).

Similarly, the airline will take off for Prague and Bucharest seven and five additional times each week, respectively.

Furthermore, the airline will also resume its Zurich-Vienna route with three flights a day headed to the Austrian capital. The route will also be operated by Austrian Airlines with multiple daily flights.

The SWISS fleet will also fly to Portugal more frequently this winter, with Lisbon receiving 14 weekly flights from Zurich and Porto now being served up to 11 times per week.

Other destinations which will see exceptionally frequent SWISS service from Zurich this winter include Berlin (52 weekly flights), Barcelona (28 weekly flights), Amsterdam (28 weekly flights) and Athens (19 weekly flights).

Geneva Airport

Passengers travelling with SWISS via Geneva Airport will be able to travel to 21 short- and medium-haul destinations from the airport in the coming winter schedules.

Those heading to London, Lisbon, Porto, and Athens will be especially spoiled for choice while the airline’s service to Hamburg, which was introduced this summer, will also be resume with four weekly frequencies this winter.

SWISS will further offer attractive services to Geneva from the UK and Scandinavia that are particularly aimed at vacationers looking to travel to popular Swiss winter sport destinations.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Could new night trains from Zurich to Rome and Barcelona be derailed?

The planned new night trains from Zurich to Rome and Barcelona could be scuppered due to a lack of funding, media reports on Friday claimed.

Published: 20 September 2024 09:52 CEST
Could new night trains from Zurich to Rome and Barcelona be derailed?

As the Swiss media reported on Thursday, there is good news and bad news concerning international night trains. 

The good news is that the national railway company, SBB, is committed to night trains connecting Zurich to Rome and Barcelona.

The first trains could be running as early as next year, SBB boss Vincent Ducrot told SRF media recently adding that it could also be 2026 before they start.

The bad news is that government funding is needed to get the project on the right track.

This money, however, could be difficult to obtain, because the Federal Council is looking into ways to cut spending, as Switzerland is facing a deficit of several billion francs.

Under Swiss law, no more than 30 million francs can be spent each year to promote international trains.

However, the law considers financing night connections as an optional provision, so the government is not obliged to spend any money on them.

And the problem for SBB and passengers keen on the night trains is that they are not very profitable and experts believe they won’t contribute much to Switzerland achieving its climate goals.

SBB boss Ducrot believes that if the promised subsidies are withdrawn the new night trains will simply not be feasible.

Existing night trains to and from Switzerland are popular. There are daily connections from Zurich to Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna, Graz, Amsterdam, Budapest, Zagreb and Prague.

But there are reasons they don’t make much profit.

Beds, sleeping compartments and toilets take up more space than seats on day trains so the maximum number of tickets that can be sold per train is therefore reduced. 

Normal daytime trains are in use for up to 18 hours a day but night trains are only used at night so spend much of the day unused.  

If subsidies do prove hard to come by there is hope cantons or cities that are interested in having night train connections could step in and help fund the services.

READ ALSO: The night trains to take from Switzerland around Europe

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