Switzerland

Switzerland’s government will spend more than $330 million to prepare several airfields for the arrival of the Lockheed Martin F-35.

The Swiss Air Force is to acquire a Bombardier Global 7500 business jet for VIP missions.

The carrier is only starting one new service in its 2022/23 winter schedule.

The routes are being made possible thanks to a new incentive scheme launched by Saudi Arabia’s government.

SWISS is adding the route as it transitions to offering more leisure services.

Helvetic inaugurates BSL base while Eurowings launches lapland flights.

The carrier will base two E190s at BSL for the summer travel season.

The route is returning to the Edelweiss network after a decade absence

SWISS CEO Dieter Vranckx outlined the carrier’s medium-term pivot to ‘interesting opportunities’ and set out a long-term vision for recovery at Routes Reconnected.

Newly appointed Benedikt Escher says SWISS will reconsider its mix of destinations and frequencies as it notes strength of VFR and leisure.

Two new short-haul routes will start from Zurich and three from Geneva this summer, but the airline does not expect demand to pick-up until the third quarter of the year.

Benedikt Escher promoted after predecessor moves across the border to Austrian Airlines.

The CEO of the Swiss startup still believes the long-haul low-cost model can be a success.

Serbia’s national airline is adding a second route to Switzerland.

New Swiss carrier flyBAIR, being setup to fill the void at Bern Airport left by SkyWork, has unveiled its maiden routes.

After growing capacity by 8% in 2019, Serbia’s national air carrier is launching six new routes in 2020.

Start-up winter sports airline Powdair, which was due to launch this month with services from eight European airports to Sion in Switzerland, has cancelled all planned flights but says it has a new investor on board and expects to relaunch in 2018.

Flights operated by Swiss regional carrier Darwin Airline have been halted after it became the latest airline to file for insolvency, while Switzerland-focussed start-up Powdair has launched a desperate search for funding before its inaugural flight has even taken place.