Swiss has resumed twice-weekly flights from London City airport to Zurich ahead of the restart of international travel from May 17.
Swiss will initially operate two flights per week to Zurich, with the first flight landing today at London City airport at 1745, and the return flight departing for Zurich at 1820. The schedule will increase “in line with the anticipated surges in demand for leisure and business travel” as restrictions are eased in the UK and Europe this summer.
London City airport has welcomed the news, with the route representing a key business and leisure connection. Zurich was the airport’s fourth most popular route in 2019, with 429,019 passengers flying between London and Switzerland’s largest city.
Switzerland is currently within the ‘amber’ category of the UK’s ‘traffic light’ travel system, meaning that travellers from England will need to take a pre-departure test, self-isolate at home for ten days, and take PCR tests on days 2 and 8 on their return. The lists will be reviewed every three weeks, and London City hopes that the continued vaccination progress in the UK and Switzerland “could see quarantine-free travel introduced between the two countries in June”.
The Swiss national carrier is also anticipating the return of its route to Geneva in August.
Commenting on the resumption of Swiss flights, London City Airport’s Head of Aviation, Anne Doyere, said:
“We are delighted that SWISS has returned to the airport to restore an important business and leisure connection between London City and Zurich. “Zurich is a key centre for international business, finance and tourism, so this is very positive news for our passengers who can once again enjoy safe and speedy journeys to Zurich direct from the heart of London.”
Tamur Goudarzi Pour, Chief Commercial Officer at Swiss, added:
“We are very pleased to resume connections from Zurich and Geneva to London City. Its proximity to the city center and its convenient size with short distances make London City Airport equally attractive for our business and leisure travelers.”
British Airways recently announced that its BA CityFlyer would operate twice weekly services from the London airport to Jersey, Gibraltar and Guernsey this summer. London City airport recently unveiled a new portal to provide passengers with up-to-date travel information ahead of the restart of international trips this summer.
Heathrow, meanwhile, has called for a significant expansion of countries included in the government’s green list.
