The Hindu Business Line : Swiss Air restarts Delhi flights

New Delhi, Nov. 26 The national airline of Switzerland Swiss Air has re-started a non-stop daily flight between Delhi and Zurich and would look to increase the seats on the route in 2009-10, when larger aircraft would be deployed on the route, the airline Chief Executive Officer, Mr Christoph Franz, said on Monday.

“The airline has started the flight with an Airbus A-330-200 offering 228 seats in business and economy class.

“During 2009-10, Swiss would operate the A-330-300 aircraft that would not only offer 10-15 per cent more capacity but would also offer a three-class cabin, which would allow passengers to travel by first class,” Mr Franz said.

The re-launch of the Delhi flight, which was withdrawn in 2003 as part of a global restructuring of the airline operations, is the first inter-continental destination that is being added by the airline.

The airline is optimistic about the flight doing well as not only there has been an increase in trade links, Switzerland is among the top 10 investors in India with more than 150 Swiss companies having a presence here.

“Indian tourist arrivals into Switzerland are up 23 per cent vis-À-vis the previous year,” Mr Franz said.

The airline could look at operating flights to other destinations at a later stage, the CEO said. “We could look at operating flights to Bangalore. It would be a natural fit as Zurich airport is a partner for the new airport. No date has yet been fixed for Bangalore operations,” Mr Franz said.