MARTIN MASSUEGER director, head of sales Middle East, Africa, Pakistan and Iran for Swiss International Air Lines speaks to TTN about performance improvements and what the carrier will be promoting during this year’s Arabian Travel Market (ATM).
What is the latest on Swiss?
Swiss International Air Lines (Group) just reported a solid operating profit of CHF368 million ($410 million) for 2010, an increase of 152 per cent over 2009. Apart from our robust earnings, Swiss also reported a new record in terms of seat load factor at 82.3 per cent in 2010 and carried more than 14 million travellers, the highest passenger volume recorded since 2002.
In terms of capacities, Swiss also expanded by a modest 4.4 per cent in 2010 – 3.4 per cent in Europe and 4.9 per cent in intercontinental routes.
This summer, Swiss serves 72 destinations in 39 countries and expanded its services from Geneva and Basel. For Geneva, Swiss is increasing its daily services to Athens and now offers a total of 10 destinations in the Mediterranean region under codeshare agreements with sister airline Edelweiss Air.
From Basel, services have been added to Rome and Copenhagen and the airline raised frequencies on its Hamburg and Barcelona routes. Nice is now being served from Basel four times a week. In addition, London Heathrow is served by up to three new daily flights from Basel and there is a daily service on the Basel-Manchester route together with bmi.
From Zurich, Swiss has raised capacity to Shanghai, San Francisco and East and West Africa and on certain Southern European routes.
How did Swiss achieve such encouraging results?
Swiss has made significant progress in terms of operations owing to our consistent endeavours on the product and customer-service fronts. Retaining our current cost structures also helped us immensely to post a strong performance in 2010.
With regard to expansions of services for the summer, we are always looking for ways to meet the demands of travellers especially during this season. Our customers from the region have more options now when travelling via Swiss to connect them to more exciting destinations in Europe and beyond.
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Any other message you want to get across regarding Swiss products what will you be particularly promoting at ATM?
Swiss continuous to reap various awards and distinctions for the high quality of our products and services. We are also keen on keeping our competitive edge by pursuing our comprehensive product and fleet investment programme.
At ATM we’re quite excited to tell our customers about our unique products - Swiss First, Swiss Business and Swiss Economy. Swiss First – a suite above the clouds, offers excellent inflight comfort that can be specifically tailored to each guest’s individual preferences. The spacious surroundings and adjustable sidewalls provide extensive privacy, while sophisticated lighting and the contemporary-yet-warm Swiss design combine to create a pleasant sense of space. As a further bonus, the unique guest seat, complete with backrest and armrests, enables the first class customer to dine or work with a fellow traveller at a generously-proportioned table. First class also has a lie-flat 2-m seat that can be fully-reclined at the touch of a button. It is equipped with a down-filled duvet and incorporates an innovative pneumatic air cushion whose softness can be adjusted to individual preferences in any seating position.
Swiss Business, the centerpiece of the new A330-300, offers optimum travel comfort with a state-of-the-art air cushion for adjustable comfort in all positions. Passengers have more personal space and enjoy sleeping with the 2-m fully-horizontal lie-flat seat which is also equipped with a massage function. Inflight entertainment has been improved to carry larger screens in 16:9 format and plugs for USB and iPod.
And in Swiss Economy, passengers can take off and relax on our new air-cushioned seats and enjoy the hearty meal served on board. The new inflight entertainment also offers unparalleled viewing pleasure.