Helvetic Airways has decided to suspend its route between Cardiff and Zurich for the winter, blaming poor passernger numbers last winter.
The route which operates 3 times a week (with a stop in Bristol) is a curious oddity as Swiss have no relationship on the route (it was operated by Helvetic as Helvetic rather than Helvetic for Swiss) using a Fokker 100.
The route will now terminate at Bristol instead.
Originally the service was a direct service, but a stop at Bristol was added as there were too few people boarding at Cardiff.
With limited traffic going either direction (based on a lack of business links and tourists), this was a route that wasn’t working at this time it seems.
Cardiff Airport is attempting to coax Helvetic back for the Summer 2013 season, trying to attract Swiss tourists to Wales. The airport lost £319,000 in 2011 blaming the withdrawal of bmibaby and the competition from Bristol Airport which has a larger footprint as well as more carriers going through it.
Helvetic operate a fleet of six Fokker F100’s – three of which operate for Swiss International Airlines on long term charter services. The rest operate for Helvetic as needed serving Bari, Brindisi, Catania, Inverness, Bristol, Lamezia Terme, Olbia, Heringsdorf and Rostock.