SWISS expands its services from Geneva

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Swiss International Air Lines is enlarging its range of non-stop services to and from Geneva. The expansion, which has been facilitated by its partnership with Edelweiss Air and an intensification of its collaborations with partner carriers within Star Alliance, sees various new points added to SWISS’s Geneva-based network including Washington, Montreal, Sharm el-Sheikh, Hurghada, Heraklion and Priština. As a result, SWISS will now offer non-stop service from Geneva to 11 destinations served by its own aircraft, a further eight leisure destinations served by sister carrier Edelweiss Air and another 16 destinations under codeshare agreements with various partner airlines, most of them fellow Star Alliance members. The new services substantially expand SWISS’s Geneva-based network, and have either commenced already or will be introduced over the next few weeks.

SWISS now offers non-stop service between Geneva and 11 destinations on flights operated by the carrier’s own aircraft. The SWISS-operated network from Geneva extends to New York, Athens, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Bucharest, Budapest, Prague, Moscow, London City and Zurich.

Thanks to its close collaboration with sister carrier Edelweiss Air, SWISS also offers non-stop flights from Geneva to eight new destinations: Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada (Egypt), Priština (Kosovo), Heraklion, Kos and Zakinthos (Greece), Antalya (Turkey) and Las Palmas (Canary Islands).

SWISS’s Geneva customers also enjoy non-stop services to a further 16 destinations which are operated by various partner airlines, largely Star Alliance members, under codeshare agreements: Montreal (Air Canada), Washington (United Airlines), Copenhagen and Stockholm (SAS), Warsaw (LOT), Oporto and Lisbon (TAP Portugal), Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Munich (Lufthansa), Brussels (Brussels Airlines), Vienna (Austrian Airlines), Paris (Air France), Cairo (EgyptAir) and Tel Aviv (El Al).

SWISS has also been reviewing its existing services to and from Geneva in the light of the recent economic downturn and its impact on market demand. As a result, the company has resolved to make a number of adjustments to its current schedules with effect from early May:

Service to and from London City will be maintained at six daily frequencies, but with an early-morning departure from Geneva at 07:30. The new timing should be ideally suited to business travellers’ needs. SWISS will now be the only airline offering non-stop service between Geneva and London City.

In a further important change, service to Budapest will be raised to a daily frequency from the present four weekly flights. Bucharest also receives an additional fourth weekly flight, and will now be served on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Prague retains its current daily service, while Athens sees a further three weekly flights added to the present daily frequency in response to strong seasonal demand. Palma de Mallorca and Malaga receive weekend non-stop services for the summer season.

Service between Geneva and Zurich will be kept at its present nine daily frequencies. The dense service pattern ensures optimum connections in Zurich throughout the SWISS network of 90 further destinations all over the world.

The present non-stop service between Geneva and Istanbul will be withdrawn at the beginning of May, due to economical reasons and in response to changes in market demand. SWISS will continue to offer two daily connections to Istanbul via Zurich.

With the above changes effected, SWISS will offer non-stop service from Geneva to no fewer than 35 destinations in 22 countries. The expansion brings SWISS’s Geneva-based network to its largest extent for several years.

Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. Corporate Communications