Route Analysis: Zurich-Puerto Plata

Swiss leisure carrier Edelweiss is expanding its tourist offer in the Caribbean from July with the resumption of a route last served in October 2011.

From July 2, the airline plans to reinstate flights between its Zurich (ZRH) base and Puerto Plata (POP), the third-largest city in the Dominican Republic on the country’s Atlantic north coast. Service will be once a week on Fridays using Airbus A340-300 aircraft.

Puerto Plata is a popular vacation destination, known for its white sandy beaches. Playa Dorada is the area’s main tourist hub, home to shopping malls, casinos, restaurants and golf courses.

“At the current time, we notice that the need for holidays by the sea is greater than ever. We are pleased to be able to offer our guests another and safe holiday destination in time for the summer holidays,” Edelweiss CCO Patrick Heymann said.

Analysis of OAG Schedules Analyser data shows that the route will become POP’s second nonstop service to Europe this summer, with Condor also operating flights from Frankfurt (FRA). In recent years, the likes of TUIfly, Finnair, Nord Wind and Eurowings have also offered connections from Europe.

Puerto Plata will become the second destination in the Dominican Republic served by Edelweiss, alongside Punta Cana (PUJ). Other destinations in the Caribbean the airline flies to include Cancún (CUN) in Mexico, Havana (HAV) in Cuba and Montego Bay (MBJ) in Jamaica.

O&D traffic between Zurich and Puerto Plata totaled just 1,191 two-way passengers in 2019 although there were no nonstop scheduled flights. Edelweiss will therefore be targeting pent-up leisure demand to fill the new services. O&D traffic on the wider Zurich-Dominican Republic market was 66,170 passengers in 2019—a rise of 10.8% on the previous 12 months.

ZRH-POP

Photo credit: Getty Images / peeterv