A former Swiss A340 is being stripped down in Twente, The Netherlands.

Article (in Dutch):
https://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/nieuws/ ... -in-twente

Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eB7YOGb_jQ

First LX CS300 flights right now:

After her first commercial flight as LX2818 ZRH-GVA yesterday may 31, SWISS' first CS300 HB-JCA started her GVA operation today.
Scheduled flights are: GVA-LHR-GVA-OPO-GVA-PMI-GVA.

Juliette

kimimm19 wrote:

LSZH34 wrote:

Any chance that LX expands its longhaul network from ZRH? Thinking of destinations like SEA, SCL or ICN...
As of recently I see alot of A330/340s and B777 flying intra-european flights inbetween their normal longhaul schedule.

The problem is that many of their alliance partner hubs are already flown to... Those are not alliance partner hubs (Skyteam with DL and KE mainly).

Surely ICN is also a hub for fellow *A member OZ?

Yesterday, after a hiatus of 17 years, Air China returned to ZRH with the inaugural flight of its 4x weekly service to PEK. According to several news articles, Air China representatives seem very happy with forward bookings. They stated that bookings to ZRH are already better than on the PEK-MUC route. It is therefore rumoured that the flight will soon expand to daily.
One article also states that CA would like to fly ZRH-PEK with an evening departure from ZRH in order to better complement the existing LX service on the route. Currently, the CA flight leaves only 15 minutes after LX's flight.

http://abouttravel.ch/reisebranche/tran ... in-zurich/ (source in German)

Another news article talked about the planned expansion by Chinese carriers in ZRH. The article states that Hainan Airlines has requested rights to fly from Shenzhen to ZRH 3x weekly from February 2018. This contrasts to an Aviationweek article from April which stated that Hainan had requested rights to fly PVG-ZRH from October 2017. We'll see what happens.

In other news, a Swiss travel website reports that Denver International Airport is in talks with Edelweiss about starting non-stop fligths between ZRH and DEN. DEN could be an interesting destination as it would generate decent O&D in Summer and Winter (skiing), it would complement the existing LAS service by WK and it would also allow for onward connections onto UA flights.
http://abouttravel.ch/reisebranche/tran ... irektflug/ (source in German)

PhilInBRN wrote:

In other news, a Swiss travel website reports that Denver International Airport is in talks with Edelweiss about starting non-stop fligths between ZRH and DEN. DEN could be an interesting destination as it would generate decent O&D in Summer and Winter (skiing), it would complement the existing LAS service by WK and it would also allow for onward connections onto UA flights.
http://abouttravel.ch/reisebranche/tran ... irektflug/ (source in German)

Interesting...DEN being a *A hub one could think that WK is testing this route for LX. i guess DEN also has a decent amount of premium customers. Any hints on the schedule for the WK flights?

Interesting...DEN being a *A hub one could think that WK is testing this route for LX. i guess DEN also has a decent amount of premium customers. Any hints on the schedule for the WK flights?

Likewise with SAN I think. If the route turns out to be succesful, I wouldn't be surprised that at one point LX takes over this route, but not before decent frequency increases.
I could also see YVR becoming an LX destination within some years.

DALCE wrote:

Interesting...DEN being a *A hub one could think that WK is testing this route for LX. i guess DEN also has a decent amount of premium customers. Any hints on the schedule for the WK flights?

Likewise with SAN I think. If the route turns out to be succesful, I wouldn't be surprised that at one point LX takes over this route, but not before decent frequency increases.
I could also see YVR becoming an LX destination within some years.

I agree. However, they would need more aircraft. A333 won't be able to do it with full payload and the B77W is too large. It's probably gonna be a while until LX starts expanding on longhaul again.

Do you know what intereurope routes the Swiss A330 and A340 are flying? I see the A340 on the ZRH-GVA route until the end of June but after that, I cannot find it. I'm hoping to fly one regionally before most of them are gone.

Both are here to stay (at least for a couple of years).

@LSZH, I see your point in the need for more aircraft in order to expand on the longhaul network. The 340 could do the job, and another 340 route could be upgraded to 77W. For example NRT I'm still surprised that this route hasn't been upgraded to the 77W.

Otherwise, Is there a reason why the CS300 HB-JCA hasn't flown for the last 4 days?
I do see a GVA-GVA flight planned for later today. Was it regular maintenance or something more serious?

DALCE wrote:

Otherwise, Is there a reason why the CS300 HB-JCA hasn't flown for the last 4 days?
I do see a GVA-GVA flight planned for later today. Was it regular maintenance or something more serious?

I don't know why. Maybe they're applying that special "Romandie" livery they were talking about...

That must be it. Forgot about that Thanks for reminding !

They were indeed painting the plane in a special Geneva livery.
They've juste unveiled it on fb : https://www.facebook.com/FlySWISS.GVA/p ... =3&theater
They will be operating a special scenic flight tonight at 8.30PM above the alps to officially launch it.
I do wish them the best of luck with the current weather situation in Geneva...

Does anyone know what is going on with HB-JCA ?

The aircraft in the last 3 days has diverted twice to ZRH, Sunday on GVA-LHR and yesterday on GVA-NCE. In both cases the aircraft diverted when the initial decent to destination should have started.

The GVA-LHR was a technical issue, whereas the GVA-NCE diversion was related to other issues.
She is already back up and running today. Nothing serious

runway23 wrote:

Does anyone know what is going on with HB-JCA ?

The aircraft in the last 3 days has diverted twice to ZRH, Sunday on GVA-LHR and yesterday on GVA-NCE. In both cases the aircraft diverted when the initial decent to destination should have started.

GVA-LHR:
http://avherald.com/h?article=4aaa36f0&opt=0

GVA-NCE:
http://avherald.com/h?article=4aaa37e5&opt=0

After a long time finally some news from Basel airport.

Iberia goes up to daily with the new BSL-MAD route as per winter schedule. In addition they have launched a weekly cargo flight on the route operated by Cygnus Air.

Qatar Cargo increases to 5 weekly on the pharma express flights.

And Wizzair just announced the 11th destination out of Basel with 5 weekly flights to Budapest starting in 2018. They have increased flights to several destinations such as Skopje (daily), Warsaw and Bucharest while launching Osijek as a new destination.

Hopefully some more news soon.

Is there an update on when the new First Class Lounge / security Zone will be opened at Terminal 1 and also when the renovation / anticipated completion of the Business SEN lounges will take place?

LXA340 wrote:

Is there an update on when the new First Class Lounge / security Zone will be opened at Terminal 1 and also when the renovation / anticipated completion of the Business SEN lounges will take place?

SWISS plans to open the new lounges in Q1 2018. I have no information about an update on this issue.

RJ100 wrote:

After a long time finally some news from Basel airport.

Iberia goes up to daily with the new BSL-MAD route as per winter schedule. In addition they have launched a weekly cargo flight on the route operated by Cygnus Air.

Qatar Cargo increases to 5 weekly on the pharma express flights.

And Wizzair just announced the 11th destination out of Basel with 5 weekly flights to Budapest starting in 2018. They have increased flights to several destinations such as Skopje (daily), Warsaw and Bucharest while launching Osijek as a new destination.

Hopefully some more news soon.

Glad to hear BSL is doing well and getting more services. With ZRH also welcoming CA, S7 and possibly Hainan, beside increased LX operation, GVA seems to have gone into hibernation. If the currently loaded LX W17 schedule is correct, even flights to BCN and NCE won't be daily ! Would anybody have some postive news

hynithuchi wrote:

RJ100 wrote:

After a long time finally some news from Basel airport.

Iberia goes up to daily with the new BSL-MAD route as per winter schedule. In addition they have launched a weekly cargo flight on the route operated by Cygnus Air.

Qatar Cargo increases to 5 weekly on the pharma express flights.

And Wizzair just announced the 11th destination out of Basel with 5 weekly flights to Budapest starting in 2018. They have increased flights to several destinations such as Skopje (daily), Warsaw and Bucharest while launching Osijek as a new destination.

Hopefully some more news soon.

Glad to hear BSL is doing well and getting more services. With ZRH also welcoming CA, S7 and possibly Hainan, beside increased LX operation, GVA seems to have gone into hibernation. If the currently loaded LX W17 schedule is correct, even flights to BCN and NCE won't be daily ! Would anybody have some postive news

Air Moldova will launch GVA, for what it's worth.
https://www.airmoldova.md/news-records-en/chisinau-geneva-starting-from-79-euros/

And the comeback of Air Mauritius, obviously.

I knew about MK , but that one will be gone before it has started properly. The flight used to be profitable all year round, so I can't understand why they limit themselves to about 12 or 13 flights only. Air Moldova, nice to hear they have changed their mind again, I hope they have the necessary approvals thgis time.
Thanks for the update.

hynithuchi wrote:

Glad to hear BSL is doing well and getting more services. With ZRH also welcoming CA, S7 and possibly Hainan, beside increased LX operation, GVA seems to have gone into hibernation. If the currently loaded LX W17 schedule is correct, even flights to BCN and NCE won't be daily ! Would anybody have some postive news

LX haven't been daily to NCE or BCN ex-GVA for about 3-4 years during the winter. By the likes of it though, LX will be down about 40-45 weekly departures this coming winter compared to last winter. Mainly due to MUC (-28), FCO (-5), FLR (-3) and -1 on ARN, OSL, LED, NCE, VLC, RAK, MAD, LGW, OPO. LX haven't increased frequencies on a single route ex GVA this winter according to the current timetable.

I suppose this is the result of GVA Reload, but somehow I can't see this being the right strategy, Daily flights to large cities like NCE, BCN, MAD should be a must if they want to lure passengers away from their competitors. They should streamline their operation with maybe fewer destinations but daily flights and synchronised schedules ( like the old SR before 1996 )

HB-IYU will leave ZRH for good on Monday. Only HB-IYZ will remain as the last Avro in the LX fleet.

hynithuchi wrote:

I suppose this is the result of GVA Reload, but somehow I can't see this being the right strategy, Daily flights to large cities like NCE, BCN, MAD should be a must if they want to lure passengers away from their competitors. They should streamline their operation with maybe fewer destinations but daily flights and synchronised schedules ( like the old SR before 1996 )

I think it's more the result of having lost an aircraft per season for the past 3 seasons. This is the first year LX is under 200 weekly departures in about 5 years ex-GVA, you add a downgauge from 320/319s to CS300/100 and LX must be down about 20% capacity wise.

The hope is that LX effectively stops trying to run after junk yield passengers and goes after business passengers due to having less seats to fill and operating with lower costs. However that hasn't happened and if you take an average Tuesday in W18, LX runs the following schedule: 9x ZRH, 5x LHR, 2x LCY, 1x JFK. No DME, ATH, NCE or BCN which historically have always had higher frequencies. It's quite disheartening to see LX doesn't try to capture some other business markets as (NCE and BCN are probably the one's they should focus on).

runway23 wrote:

hynithuchi wrote:

I suppose this is the result of GVA Reload, but somehow I can't see this being the right strategy, Daily flights to large cities like NCE, BCN, MAD should be a must if they want to lure passengers away from their competitors. They should streamline their operation with maybe fewer destinations but daily flights and synchronised schedules ( like the old SR before 1996 )

I think it's more the result of having lost an aircraft per season for the past 3 seasons. This is the first year LX is under 200 weekly departures in about 5 years ex-GVA, you add a downgauge from 320/319s to CS300/100 and LX must be down about 20% capacity wise.

The hope is that LX effectively stops trying to run after junk yield passengers and goes after business passengers due to having less seats to fill and operating with lower costs. However that hasn't happened and if you take an average Tuesday in W18, LX runs the following schedule: 9x ZRH, 5x LHR, 2x LCY, 1x JFK. No DME, ATH, NCE or BCN which historically have always had higher frequencies. It's quite disheartening to see LX doesn't try to capture some other business markets as (NCE and BCN are probably the one's they should focus on).

Oops, I hadn't even noticed the that DME was no longer daily in W18. Your example of TUE flights leaves me speechless, although random checks had made me aware of the reduced operation next winter. How do they expect to increase their market share this way ? I know that they offer excellent connections via ZRH, but this is simply not what the high yield market is looking for. Isn't it a contradiction, trying to recapture their lost market with the brandnew, much publicised Romandie dedicated ( horribly painted ) C300, on the other hand quietly reducing frequencies season after season? To me, they are digging their grave a bit deeper every year here at GVA as I can't see why people would want to travel LX any more. C class service is a misery ( at least in Europe ) and YCL is no better than any other carrier or even LCC. If they want to grow, they'll have to build up a useful, comprehensive and customer friendly network, it's not a free biscuit or a dry sandwich that's bringing lost customers back.

hynithuchi wrote:

Oops, I hadn't even noticed the that DME was no longer daily in W18.

It's not even daily now (in S17) anymore, day 6 is not operated.

I believe LX has 6 aircraft based at GVA, so where do they use them on day 2 in W17 ? Doesn't look exactly like an optimal fleet utilisation to me..or have they reduced thei base even more ?

hynithuchi wrote:

I believe LX has 6 aircraft based at GVA, so where do they use them on day 2 in W17 ? Doesn't look exactly like an optimal fleet utilisation to me..or have they reduced thei base even more ?

LX have 7 aircraft based in GVA (+2 night stops for ZRH + JFK), down from 10 a year and a half ago. easyJet have 14 based in GVA (+1 spare) plus the equivalent of 11 based (so 25 in total or as they call it "touching").

I'd guess the aircraft do nothing on those days or some light maintenance. LX has probably concluded that on their leisure routes nobody wants to fly on a Tuesday. In fact easyJet only operate about 30-40 flights on some Tuesday's ex-GVA and I've seen them as low as 10-15 from BSL. The difference being that Swiss has pretty much given up on Tuesdays from November to March (even then in March they operate an additional flight to LCY and ATH returns), whereas easyJet has a massive cut in November but picks up again after that.

So seasonal cuts aren't exactly something specific to LX, but the extent of those cuts this winter is unprecedented.

LXM83 wrote:

hynithuchi wrote:

Oops, I hadn't even noticed the that DME was no longer daily in W18.

It's not even daily now (in S17) anymore, day 6 is not operated.

IIRC it wasn't daily last summer either. DME is a far cry from the days when it was 2x daily, or operated exclusively with 321s where half the plane was sold as business class. A guess a tale of how the Russian economy has gone downhill.

hynithuchi wrote:

it's not a free biscuit or a dry sandwich that's bringing lost customers back.

If rumours are correct, LX are tempted to go Buy on board and implement it in GVA first. So not like there's much hope here either...

Runway23, thanks for specifying these flight reductions. I haven't exactly looked at LX and U2 schedules for Tuesdays, but I hope they reduce their morning flights if they really want to reduce Tuesday schedules, it would allow me to sleep a bit longer without being disturbed..As for onboard service, I frankly don't care as long as airlines get me safely from A to B and preferably on time. I am retired and started working in the airline business in 1967, so today's LX ( and probably most other carriers ) JCL service cannot even stand the comparison with most airlines' YCL service in the 70ties. No regrets though, but it's really no longer a criteria.

Circahead wrote:

Do you know what intereurope routes the Swiss A330 and A340 are flying? I see the A340 on the ZRH-GVA route until the end of June but after that, I cannot find it. I'm hoping to fly one regionally before most of them are gone.

Really? Does anyone know the purpose of this or whether this is an ongoing thing or not please?

They are a little short on aircraft because of the CSeries delay and are reducing some routes over the summer. The Longhaul fleet is also covering some flights to deviate the need for further reductions.

In an interview in German only with AeroTelegraph, Mr Brian Tsoi, CX area manager for Germany, Switzerland and Eastern Europe, states that the carrier intends expanding and increasing capacity and destinations in Germany and Switzerland. I would see no problem in Germany but would Switzerland have the potential for increased capacity ? Could CX serve ZRH with an A-380 ( do they have any at all ? ) or could GVA get a service. He states that the airlines is only looking at destinations with local potential, so would the 42000 passengers ( according to GVA airport statistics ) support a service? I don't think they would consider BSL due to it's proximity to ZRH, but could of course add additional flights to ZRH as well.

hynithuchi wrote:

In an interview in German only with AeroTelegraph, Mr Brian Tsoi, CX area manager for Germany, Switzerland and Eastern Europe, states that the carrier intends expanding and increasing capacity and destinations in Germany and Switzerland. I would see no problem in Germany but would Switzerland have the potential for increased capacity ? Could CX serve ZRH with an A-380 ( do they have any at all ? ) or could GVA get a service. He states that the airlines is only looking at destinations with local potential, so would the 42000 passengers ( according to GVA airport statistics ) support a service? I don't think they would consider BSL due to it's proximity to ZRH, but could of course add additional flights to ZRH as well.

Airlines such as Air China are flying daily to both GVA and ZRH. I am pretty sure HKG can handle flights out both airports. Maybe not daily out of GVA but I am sure this will come.

SR380 wrote:

hynithuchi wrote:

In an interview in German only with AeroTelegraph, Mr Brian Tsoi, CX area manager for Germany, Switzerland and Eastern Europe, states that the carrier intends expanding and increasing capacity and destinations in Germany and Switzerland. I would see no problem in Germany but would Switzerland have the potential for increased capacity ? Could CX serve ZRH with an A-380 ( do they have any at all ? ) or could GVA get a service. He states that the airlines is only looking at destinations with local potential, so would the 42000 passengers ( according to GVA airport statistics ) support a service? I don't think they would consider BSL due to it's proximity to ZRH, but could of course add additional flights to ZRH as well.

Airlines such as Air China are flying daily to both GVA and ZRH. I am pretty sure HKG can handle flights out both airports. Maybe not daily out of GVA but I am sure this will come.

Let's be accurate, CA flies daily to Switzerland ( 4 x ZRH and 3 x GVA ) while CX already has a daily flight to ZRH, in addition to a daily LX flight. OK, all the better if GVA can get a flight, but I would rather expect increased capacity to ZRH.

Some news from Mirabel:

It's going forward and LX should expect 3 CS300 in July with the first delivery on the 07th.
http://www.fliegerfaust.com/5-cseries-s ... 54489.html

That's good news indeed! I see HB-JCB currently scheduled for commercial ops as per 12JUL.

Great news - good for SWISS!
But I guess it will be two deliveries by the end of July ( - but of course it would be nice if it's three). As in the meantime they even wetlease Adria Slovenia to fly some routes for them.

Skywork adds Basel-Vienna with 6 weekly flights effective September. They reduce LCY down to 1 flight per day.

Not sure what strategy they are following at the moment. They are reducing more and more in Berne while launching some weird ski flights from SIR. And in Basel they try to compete with much stronger easyJet, BA, Ryanair and Austrian bit aren't offering real benefits in terms of flying times...

Austrian today announces to increase Basel-Vienna to up to 3 daily flights.

SWISS' second CS300 HB-JCB is now on the flight to her new home in Switzerland coming from Montréal.

Some news:

easyJet Switzerland will (re-)launch GVA-LPA (1x week) and launch GVA-SOU (3x week) this winter.

Swiss will begin flying the CS-100 into LCY on August 8, LX466/467. Initially from ZRH (GVA is still scheduled on Helvetic E90s until this winter, but things will likely change before that).

JulietteBravo wrote:

SWISS' second CS300 HB-JCB is now on the flight to her new home in Switzerland coming from Montréal.

She will start commercial ops today operating flight LX348/11 GVA-LHR-GVA.
Currently airborne as LX5107 ZRH-GVA.

In addition, easyJet opens Basel-Stockholm 3 weekly. Finally!

HB-JCA - First visit of type (BCS3)to BHX tonight or should have been but the flight was cancelled - any information as to why? It was showing on the ground Zurich with the BHX flight number per FR24 so I assume it was pretty close to getting airborne?

I trust aircraft or crew issues as the weather at both ends was okay.

BHXRunway15 wrote:

HB-JCA - First visit of type (BCS3)to BHX tonight or should have been but the flight was cancelled - any information as to why? It was showing on the ground Zurich with the BHX flight number per FR24 so I assume it was pretty close to getting airborne?

I trust aircraft or crew issues as the weather at both ends was okay.

They couldn't put an A319 or something in its place either?

How come SWISS hasn't pressed on to take the last two CS100 on order? Wouldn't it be useful to have at least the CS100 fleet complete and running smooth for the summer season, so they can worry about other stuff? It will take a long time to get the 20 CS300 into the fleet, it seems.

The problem is the lack of engines and Swiss decided it was better to put them under a CS300 instead.

Since LX is also leasing in an CRJ900 from Adria this summerpeak, it's obvious that they are short of metal and need as much from BBD as possible.

http://www.aerotelegraph.com/swiss-denk ... ecken-nach

Article about increased LF and possible new longhaul markets.

DALCE wrote:

Since LX is also leasing in an CRJ900 from Adria this summerpeak, it's obvious that they are short of metal and need as much from BBD as possible.

And there shall be another wet leasing coming shortly.
Looking forward to this metal.