Tag Archives: Swiss

Swiss International Airlines will be restoring the services from Mumbai to Zurich in India from 12th January 2022. The flights were suspended in view of pandemic developments earlier. “Provided all necessary approvals are obtained, we indeed plan to resume the Mumbai-Zurich route on 12 January 2022”, revealed Swiss International Airline official. The airline is to further expand its range of scheduled services next summer and will be adding six new destinations to its European route network.

Brussels Airlines will operate its last flight from Mumbai to Brussels on January 7, 2019. For economic reasons, the airline has decided to cease its flight service between India and Belgium. Customers continue to have smooth flight options via Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich with Lufthansa Group partners Lufthansa and SWISS. Brussels Airlines started its Mumbai-Brussels route in March 2017, venturing for the first time into the Indian subcontinent. After an initial 5-weekly service, the airline added a sixth frequency in the winter season of 2018. The flight service does however not deliver the anticipated results and Brussels Airlines has therefore taken the decision to withdraw from the route and use the flight capacity to reinforce its existing African network, the key intercontinental market of the Belgium based airline. Passengers continue to have ample alternative travel options via Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich thanks to the Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa and SWISS. Customers who are booked on Brussels Airlines flights to or from Mumbai after January 7 are being contacted by Brussels Airlines and are offered alternative travel solutions to their final destination.

German Airlines Lufthansa has completed 55 years of operations on Delhi – Frankfurt route on September 1, 2018. In June 1963, there were three flights a week to the far east. On Mondays and Wednesdays, the routing led from Duesseldorf via Frankfurt, Rome, Cairo, Dharan, Karachi, Calcutta, Bangkok and Hong Kong to Tokyo. On Fridays, the route led from Duesseldorf via Frankfurt, Rome, Cairo, Kuwait, Karachi, Kolkata, Bangkok and Hong Kong to Tokyo. As of September in the same year, the stop in India took place in New Delhi, instead of Kolkata. The flights were operated by a Boeing 720. Nowadays, Lufthansa operates the route by a A380 that covers the distance in a bit more than 7.5 hours. Delhi has always been a key market for Lufthansa and over the years, the airline has experienced healthy growth on the route as more customers experience world-class product and services. These include state-of-the-art products and best-in-class services such as in-flight entertainment and enhanced FlyNet allowing in-flight, high-speed internet to help stay connected with business partners or family on ground. Currently, Lufthansa Group and its carriers – Lufthansa, SWISS and Brussels Airlines, offer 61 flights from four Indian gateways, namely Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru connecting to 343 destinations in more than 100 countries via its four European hubs of Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich and Brussels.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), part of the Lufthansa Group, completed 10 years of operations on the Delhi – Zurich route. To celebrate this milestone, SWISS hosted a special walk titled ‘The Delhi Seductress’ featuring Mehrauli Archeological Park on December 17, 2017. The walk explored the by-lanes of Mehrauli, its multi-faceted history and architecture through visits to mausoleums, step wells as well as several other structures modified during its history. SWISS and experts from Darwesh – a travel and culture studio jointly led the event. Paurus Nekoo, General Manager Sales, India, Lufthansa Group, on behalf of SWISS said, “We are proud to add another milestone to our history with India. As an airline deeply rooted in tradition and culture, we are delighted to celebrate this occasion with a unique activity that pays tribute to Delhi’s rich cultural heritage.” Nekoo adds, “India is a key market for SWISS and over the years, we have constantly innovated to elevate travel experience for passengers to and from India. From special meals, Indian flight attendants to Bollywood movies onboard, we are committed to deepen our connect with our customers by extending the very best of Swiss warmth and hospitality onboard.”

The Lufthansa Group has introduced an integrated group booking tool- Book-a-Group for flights with Austrian, Lufthansa and SWISS. This tool is exclusively accessible to tour operators, consolidators and travel agents. With this single online tool, travel agents will be able to request group journeys for ten persons or more from any segment of travel like group of private individuals, business travellers or tourists, with the three network airlines in any combination and bookings can be made with immediate confirmation. “With the new, integrated ‘Book-a-Group’ tool, we have been able to implement a further step in the harmonisation of our products and services across all network airlines. This will make it even easier for our ticket intermediaries to make group enquiries and bookings with the Lufthansa Group”, explained Dieter Vranckx, Vice President Sales Asia-Pacific, Lufthansa Group Airlines. This tool is available in 14 different languages. Upon enquiry it will deliver an offer and price quote in real time. The commercial conditions for group journeys have been improved and standardised in one single contract valid for all the Group’s hub airlines. Another significant addition is booking option for short term bookings. In future, it will be possible to cancel bookings within the last 60 days before the actual flight, at no charge, from 72 hours after the booking from a single point of contact. The tool will also  allow to make enquiries for bookings involving combinations of flights with further members of Lufthansa Group Airlines (Brussels Airlines and Eurowings), as well as with many other Lufthansa partner airlines. This will allow ticket intermediaries and travel agency staff to offer their customers an even wider network of routes, as well as improved availability.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Ivan Chu and Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of the Lufthansa Group, signed a new co-operation agreement that will see the airline code share on flights operated by Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines to a number of destinations in Continental Europe. Reciprocally, the Lufthansa Group will codeshare on Cathay Pacific services to four of the airline’s most popular destinations in Southwest Pacific. Under the agreement, Cathay Pacific will offer 14 new destinations in Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Norway, Italy, Switzerland and Austria with the “CX” code placed on the following services operated by airlines in the Lufthansa Group. The Lufthansa Group will place its airlines’ codes on services operated by Cathay Pacific between Hong Kong and Auckland as well as between Hong Kong and Cairns, Melbourne and Sydney. Under a single booking, passengers from Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Zurich will be able to check through and seamlessly transfer to their final destination in Auckland or Australia via Hong Kong International Airport. The agreement extends to both airlines’ frequent flyer programmes. Tickets for the new code-share destinations will be available for sale from 5 April 2017 for travel commencing from 26 April 2017.

Come March 2017, Brussels Airlines will come on board with Lufthansa Group Airlines. Lufthansa Group Airlines represents Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian in India. Wolfgang Will, Director South Asia, Lufthansa Group Airlines, said, “Lufthansa Group Airlines will also now represent Brussels Airlines in India from March 2017 onwards and has also announced five flights from Mumbai to Brussels from the same month.” Will also added that they have received a robust load factor from India which is over 85 per cent.