Swiss has announced it is to start a new six times-daily service between Heathrow and Geneva, but is cutting the number of flights from London City to the Swiss destination.
The new flights will also come as a challenge to Oneworld-founder British Airways which flies up to eight times daily on the same route, important for both business and leisure travel.
From January 10, Swiss will fly out of Heathrow Terminal 1 at 0700, 0855, 1145, 1425, 1640 and 1930, arriving at 0935, 1135, 1425, 1705, 1920 and 2210 respectively. Return flights from Geneva will depart at 0730, 1015, 1220, 1515, 1745 and 2000.
The new flights will be served by A319 and A320 aircraft, with one initially provided by Bmi, Swiss’ sister airline in the Lufthansa Group. Swiss says it will eventually operate the flights with its own aircraft, stationing an additional A320 at Geneva.
Premium fare passengers travelling out of Heathrow with Swiss will be able to use T1’s Star Alliance and Bmi lounges and make use of fast-track options.
But while Swiss will strengthen its position at Heathrow, it is cutting the number of flights from London City Airport to Geneva from six daily down to four.
According to Swiss, the reshuffle of its London schedule will boost the number of seats from the UK to Switzerland by as much as 30 per cent. The collaboration with Bmi will not stop at LHR-Geneva, according to Swiss, which said all flights between Switzerland and the UK would one day be operated under codeshare agreements.
Swiss also announced it is to end its Geneva-Bucharest service “owing to insufficient market demand.”
For more information visit swiss.com.
Report by Andrew Gough
