It will serve a total of 112 destinations from Switzerland, Zurich and Geneva on the summer schedule valid from March 26 to October 28, 2023. This corresponds to 85 percent of the pre-Corona 2019 capacity. In addition to key North American destinations on which the airline focuses, more flights to Asia are also on the agenda, according to a press release. This is while there are still strong corona restrictions in the region and destinations are now slowly reopening.
Chief Commercial Officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour (52) said that the top priority is to offer passengers a stable flight schedule during the upcoming summer holiday season. Goudarzi Pour said he is confident that so far, even in a more challenging economic environment, the rebound in air travel demand will continue structurally.
800 new flight attendants
Switzerland is currently increasing its roster to meet demand. He said he wanted to hire 800 new cabin crew members by the end of the year. 1000 more will be added next year.
However, it remains to be seen whether it will be successful. Switzerland had laid off 500 jobs during the pandemic and has struggled this year with a major staff shortage and a resurgence of the desire to travel. As a result, hundreds of flights were canceled during the summer.
That’s why Switzerland not only relies on its own staff, but continues to work with so-called wet charter partners, namely other airlines that fly for them. For example, in addition to the six Helvetic aircraft currently in use, Switzerland will deploy additional Helvetic capacities next summer.
In addition, the cooperation announced for this winter with Latvian airline Air Baltic will continue in the 2023 summer flight schedule. However, it is precisely this cooperation that Switzerland has received a lot of criticism: unions accuse Switzerland of lowering operating fees by outsourcing foreign airlines.
To Montreal with Edelweiss
In addition, Switzerland relies on its sister company, Edelweiss. According to the announcement, it will operate the Zurich-Montréal (Canada) route from May to October 2023 with a long-haul aircraft for Switzerland.
In the summer, Switzerland will fly to Bristol, southern England, with three weekly flights from Zurich. In addition, flights from Zurich to Eastern Europe and Germany will be increased.
Geneva benefits even more from the expansion with the addition of four new destinations to its flight schedule: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo and Hamburg. (pbe/SDA)