Swiss International Air Lines is set to bolster its UK and Ireland presence in run up to its fifth anniversary this May, following a busy start to 2007. SWISS has this year already enhanced its network and timetable, upgraded its premium class cabins, won a coveted award and also broadened its online service.

Amongst the innovations that SWISS has recently implemented to give customers greater travel flexibility is a new 07:00 departure from London City Airport to Zurich, which is comfortably the first UK flight to arrive in Zurich and should prove especially useful to the business traveller. The airline is also offering an additional 20:00 return from Zurich to London City. With the introduction of the new flights SWISS will offer the most comprehensive service between Zurich and London City, at roughly two-hour intervals.

SWISS also now offers daily UK connections to and from Tokyo via Zurich, having increased its weekly frequencies from six to seven on 19 February. From mid July onwards, SWISS will also provide daily UK services to Los Angeles, Santiago de Chile and Johannesburg via Zurich. All these destinations were previously served six times a week.

With the refurbishment of SWISS’s entire European Airbus fleet completed in February, passengers are assured of maximum seating comfort and space in Swiss Business because the middle seat is kept free on all versions of this aircraft. A general upgrade of the Avro RJ 100 cabin interior is now underway. These aircraft are being given new leather-covered seats and a more spacious five-abreast configuration for greater in-flight comfort. The new seats not only offer SWISS customers an even pleasanter in-flight experience but with their lower weight, they also reduce each flight’s fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, further enhancing the environmental credentials of SWISS’s European aircraft fleet.

A further improvement to the service that SWISS offers its customers is the recent enhancements the airline has made to swiss.com. The latest developments on the site give passengers a quicker overview of all fares and more options in terms of fare selection and customers can now combine and compare the benefits and services of fares for flights in Swiss Economy or Swiss Business as well as seeing all applicable airport fees and surcharges.

On 15 January SWISS added a thrice-weekly flight to Basel from Manchester on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Flight LX379, which leaves Manchester for north-west Switzerland’s city on the Rhine at 16.10, takes just two hours and offers northern Britain a seamless connection with a major industrial centre which borders both Germany and France. In addition those travelling via EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (Basel) will benefit from SWISS’s recently enhanced network of services out of this hub, as well as the wide range of connecting onward flights worldwide.

In January SWISS was also named “Best Airline for Europe” in the 2007 Business Traveller Awards. The overall top spot was the result of the airline’s rankings in various specific areas: the readers of Germany’s Business Traveller magazine placed Switzerland’s national carrier first in the “Cabin Crew”, “Ground Services”, “Cabin Comfort” and “In-flight Food and Drink” categories.

Iwan Kip, Marketing & Direct Sales Manager UK & Ireland, said, “The UK and Ireland is an extremely important market for SWISS, especially given the significance of the connection between the financial hubs of London and Zurich. The first few months of this year have been a busy time for us and we are looking to maintain our levels or quality and innovation in preparation for the celebration of SWISS’s fifth anniversary in May 2007.

“SWISS is a byword for reliability, quality in every detail, typical Swiss hospitality and personal care which we’re delighted to be able to offer to Britain and Ireland. We don’t just define ourselves by these values; we apply them and exemplify every single day.”
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