No-frills put pressure on Swiss
Ailing carrier Swiss says intense competition from no-frills airlines is behind a raft of drastic measures announced this week to secure its future.
Swiss will cut its staff by up to 1,000 by the middle of next year and cut its fleet by at least 13 aircraft.
The carrier intends to focus on its more profitable routes operating out of Zurich and will relinquish flights out of Geneva and Basel to codeshare carriers such as British Airways.
The airline hopes the initiatives will reduce costs by CHF 300 million by 2007, and says that without these measure it would fail to make profit this year. Swiss general manager for the UK, Ireland and the Nordics, Sarah Built said: “This strategy of focusing on profitable markets and competitive costs makes sound business sense.”
The news came on the same day that easyJet announced a new European base at Basel. The carrier already operates flights from Basel to Berlin, Liverpool, London Stansted and London Luton, but plans to increase destinations out of the airport to 10 over the summer.
Report by Ginny McGrath
Ginny McGrath
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