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Swiss International Air Lines (short: Swiss) is the principal airline of Switzerland operating scheduled services in Europe and to North America, South America, Africa and Asia. Its main hub is Zurich Kloten Airport (ZRH).
Swiss International Air Lines uses the IATA Code LX, which it inherited from Crossair (Swissair's code was SR).
History
The airline was formed after the 2001 bankruptcy of Swissair, Switzerland's former flag carrier. The failed airline's biggest creditors, Credit Suisse and UBS, arranged to sell part of Swissair's assets to Crossair, the regional counterpart to the transatlantic Swissair (both Swissair and Crossair were under the same holding company, called SAirGroup). Crossair later changed its name to Swiss, and the new national airline started its operations officially on March 31, 2002. The airline was first owned by institutional investors (61.3%), Swiss Confederation (20.3%), cantons and communities (12.2%) and others (6.2%). Swiss also owns subsidiary companies Swiss Sun (100%) and Crossair Europe (99.9%). Employees total 5970.
After almost a year of disputes, Swiss was finally accepted in the oneworld Airline alliance, after having been blocked by British Airways, with which Swiss competes on many long-haul routes. On June 3, 2004, Swiss announced its decision not to join oneworld because they did not want to integrate their current frequent flyer program into British Airways' Executive Club.
On 22 March 2005 Lufthansa confirmed its plan to take over Swiss, starting with a minority stake (11%) of a new company set up to hold Swiss shares called Air Trust. The takeover is expected to be completed by 2007 and will see the Swiss operations gradually integrated with Lufthansa from late 2005. Swiss joined Star Alliance on 1 April 2006, when it also became a member of Lufthansa's Miles & More frequent flyer program.
The airline has set up a regional airline subsidiary called Swiss European Air Lines. This carrier has its own air operator's certificate and operates the non-Airbus fleet.
Destinations
New routes
As a result of the addition of 2 Airbus 330 to the fleet from the end of 2006, it will increase long haul service as follows :
- Zurich-New York (flight LX15/16) / Zurich-Miami (flight LX64/65) = goes daily
- Zurich-Riyadh-Jeddah = increasing 3 to 4 a week
- Zurich-Nairobi-Dar es Salaam / Zurich-São Paulo-Santiago = increasing 4 to 5 a week
Fleet
The Swiss International Air Lines fleet consists of (as of 7/06):
| Type | Number | Seats | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A319-100 | 7 | ||
| Airbus A320-200 | 14 | ||
| Airbus A321-100 | 4 | ||
| Airbus A330-200 | 9 | ||
| Airbus A340-300 | 9 | ||
The average age of the Swiss International Air Lines fleet is 6.6 years (at April 2006)
Flight Simulator
Swiss Virtual Air Lines. This project provide fans with a reproduction of the flight schedule of Swiss on flight simulators. The game attracts hundreds of players, many are SWISS Pilots.
Gallery
See also
External links
Swiss | SWISS International Air Lines | Swiss International Airlines | Swiss International Air Lines | סוויס אינטרנשיונל איירליינס | Swiss International Air Lines | スイスエアラインズ | Swiss International Air Lines | Swiss International Air Lines | Swiss International Air Lines | Swiss International Air Lines | Swiss International Air Lines
"Swiss International Air Lines"