Switzerland returns to land

class=”sc-97fd9fa8-0 jNFKxv”>

Swiss survived the corona epidemic nosedive last year and fell into darkness: The airline posted an operating profit of 456 million francs, after an operating loss of 405 million francs in the previous year.

In the 2022 fiscal year, the number of passengers carried by Switzerland increased by 116 percent to 12.8 million. The number of flights increased by 89 percent compared to the previous year and amounted to around 107 thousand.

Sales more than doubled to CHF 4.41 billion after falling in the previous two years. In 2021, Switzerland’s turnover was only 2.1 billion francs, while in the first year of the pandemic 2020 it was only 1.85 billion francs.

Stable flight plan

The return of passengers and “optimal cost structures” after the corona pandemic contributed significantly to the result. “Despite major challenges in aviation as a whole, we were able to make the comeback as early as 2022 and fly back into the profit zone in the summer with over 99 percent operational stability. Swiss CEO Dieter Vranckx (49) said in a press release, this flight is the foundation of our success. Plan stability will also be one of our priorities this year, he said.

However, despite the climb, Switzerland is still not at the flight level of the pre-corona era: in 2019, the Lufthansa subsidiary had a turnover of 5.33 billion and an operating profit of 578 million francs.

However, the post-pandemic demand boom gave support to Switzerland. In addition to the recovery in passenger bookings, cost optimization and stable flight operations boosted earnings during the summer months. Adjusted operating margin returned to double digits at 10.4 percent.

Strong freight demand

Swiss wrote that the first quarter was still characterized by great uncertainty due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine: “But in the spring, people’s confidence in travel quickly returned, and the demand curve for air travel showed a clear upward trend. »

The continued strong demand for cargo also reflected positively on the results. Swiss said the freight result was the strongest in the company’s history.

Switzerland plans this year with a conservative capacity of around 85 percent compared to 2019 before Corona: “The goal is to achieve the greatest possible stability in flight operations.” The entire Swiss fleet will be stationed in Zurich and Geneva again in the summer. (SDA/koh)

Source :Blick