Swiss International Air Lines are increasing their footprint out of its Zurich hub, with the introduction of two new services.
Swiss Airbus A340 departing Zurich Airport – image, Economy Class and Beyond.
Both Washington DC and Osaka will join the Swiss network as the airline adds further Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to its network.
Swiss will introduce a five-times-weekly non-stop service between Zurich and Osaka on 1 March 2020, using an Airbus A340-300 aircraft, which has 223 seats.
Meanwhile, a daily service will be operated to SWISS Washington, D.C. from 29 March 2020. This route will be operated with Airbus A330-300 aircraft seating 236 passengers. A total of 14 flights a week will be operated with the others operated by United Airlines.
The new timetable is as below
Data – Swiss
Meanwhile, there are further network changes, with Swiss sending their new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft to Tokyo and Miami.
The larger aircraft will operate to Tokyo from February 2020, whilst Miami will see the larger aircraft from the Summer 2020 season.
In quotes
SWISS Chief Commercial Officer Tamur Goudarzi Pour said
“In adding Osaka and Washington, D.C. to our network, we are offering both our business travellers and our leisure customers two attractive new long-haul destinations,”
“We’re delighted that this will help further strengthen Switzerland as a place to visit and do business, and will offer our customers an even more attractive air travel network.”
SWISS CEO Thomas Klühr however sounds a note of caution even with these new routes, and the limitations of operating out of its Zurich hub:
“The increasingly difficult operating parameters at our Zurich hub do, however, pose a major challenge. The already highly restrictive airport operating hours and the growing burdens of noise levies and other charges are increasingly threatening the stability of our flight operations. Any further tightening of the present restrictions would seriously endanger the range of destinations SWISS can offer. And this in turn would be critical to such an export-oriented nation.”
Adding new Connectivity
Whilst there are limitations of operating from their Zurich hub, Swiss appears to be making the most of it – and adding more long haul capacity out of the airport.
With Osaka adding new Asian connectivity and a re-doubling of Washington Dulles coverage, there are some good long haul options.
However, Zurich Airport doesn’t want to help out, there’s always the option of spinning up of long haul hub out of Geneva.. if the numbers worked…
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