Lufthansa Group member Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), the Switzerland home carrier, will resume flights to Hong Kong in June, the group announced today.
SWISS will offer twice weekly flights between Zurich and Hong Kong.
In 2019, SWISS flew 18.9 million passengers and generated adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (adjusted EBIT) of 578 million Swiss francs (HK$4.6 billion) compared with 636 million Swiss francs in the year before. The airline again achieved its target of a double-digit adjusted EBIT margin.
Revenues were 5.33 billion Swiss francs, broadly in line with the 5.30 billion Swiss francs of 2018.
SWISS says it serves more than 100 destinations in 45 countries from Zurich and Geneva with its fleet of around 90 aircraft.
In March, (SWISS) began new non-stop flights between Zurich and Osaka. The first eastbound LX 158 flight was operated with an Airbus A340-300 aircraft. SWISS will be serving Osaka five times a week, supplementing its existing Zurich-Tokyo flights to strengthen its presence in Japan.
The airline is also reputed for highlighting the wealth and variety of Switzerland's cuisine by inviting a different top chef every three months to showcase their local Swiss region and its culinary specialities.
For a three-month period from March, Sebastian Rabe, chef de cuisine at the WART restaurant in Hünenberg whose history dates back to 1315, created a series of spring-themed dishes using seasonal ingredients for the enjoyment of SWISS’s Business and First Class passengers. Sebastian Rabe was awarded 16 GaultMillau points last year for his consistently regional meal creations with accents of modern Nordic cuisine.
First Class customers are served seasonal specialities. For a starter, Rabe has created a smoked trout mousse with roasted char jelly, red apple and cider vinegar pearls. His main course is a choice of braised beef brisket with herb demi-glace or poached pikeperch with cold cucumber emulsion. The menu is rounded off with a cherry-kirsch ice lolly with almond meringue crumble and cherry coulis.
In Business Class, the first course is a salmon trout terrine with yoghurt mousse and pumpernickel. The main course is a choice of sautéed beef fillet with wild garlic demi-glace or poached chicken breast with tomato and mushroom ragout sauce. And for dessert there is a chocolate and spelt panna cotta with millet and apple crumble.
SWISS will partially resume flights in June and plans to operate up to 190 flights from Zurich and Geneva to 41 European destinations. The ramp-up will follow in stages, and the range of flights available will gradually be increased over the weeks ahead.
The airline will resume services to various Mediterranean destinations, including Malaga, Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia in Spain and Brindisi, Florence, Naples and Rome in Italy. Connections to Scandinavia are also being increased with flights to Gothenburg in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark.
It will also be adding further major European destinations to its programme, such as Paris (France), Brussels (Belgium) and Moscow (Russia). The existing services to Amsterdam (Netherlands), Athens (Greece), Berlin (Germany), Lisbon (Portugal), London (UK), Porto (Portugal) and Stockholm (Sweden) will be expanded.
The airline will also be offering long-haul flyers new intercontinental direct connections in June, in addition to its three weekly services to New York / Newark (US).
There will be flights from Zurich to New York JFK (four times weekly), Chicago (twice weekly), Singapore (once weekly), Bangkok (once weekly), Tokyo (twice weekly), Mumbai (three times weekly), and Johannesburg (once weekly).
SWISS A340-300 takes off for Osaka, Japan in March, on its maiden flight in March.
A choice of braised beef brisket with herb demi-glace or poached pikeperch with cold cucumber emulsion.
Salmon trout terrine with yoghurt mousse and pumpernickel.
