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Swiss Global Air Lines

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Swiss Global Air Lines
IATA ICAO Call sign
LZ[1] SWU EUROSWISS
Founded1 September 2005 (2005-09-01)
(as Swiss European Air Lines)[2]
Commenced operations
  • 1 November 2005 (2005-11-01)
    (as Swiss European Air Lines)[3]
  • 3 February 2015 (2015-02-03)
    (as Swiss Global Air Lines)
Ceased operations19 April 2018 (2018-04-19)
(re-integrated into Swiss International Air Lines)
AOC #CH.AOC.1044[4]
HubsZurich Airport
Frequent-flyer programMiles & More
AllianceStar Alliance (affiliate; 2006–2018)
Parent companySwiss International Air Lines
HeadquartersBasel, Switzerland
Key peopleAndreas Thurnheer
Websitewww.swiss.com

Swiss Global Air Lines, known as Swiss European Air Lines until February 2015,[5] was a Swiss airline and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Swiss International Air Lines.

Like its parent, Swiss Global was part of the Star Alliance. It had its legal headquarters[6] in Basel; the physical head office was on the grounds of Zürich Airport and the town of Kloten.[7][8] Swiss Global Air Lines operated scheduled flights in the name and corporate design of its parent Swiss International to European metropolitan and some leisure destinations from Zurich Airport as well as some long-haul routes on behalf of its parent.

By 19 April 2018, all aircraft and employees were transferred to the parent company as part of a new labour agreement. Therefore, Swiss Global Air Lines was dissolved.[9]

History

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The Avro RJ100 was Swiss European Air Lines' primary aircraft until the start of its replacement in 2016
Swiss Global Air Lines Airbus A220-100
Swiss Global Air Lines Airbus A220-300 wearing a special livery
Swiss Global Air Lines Boeing 777-300ER "Faces of SWISS"

Swiss Global Air Lines was founded in 2005 as Swiss European Air Lines, to operate European routes for its parent company. It started operations on 1 November 2005 with a fleet of 18 Avro RJ85/RJ100 and 8 Embraer 145.[3]

On 11 March 2009, the Lufthansa Group board announced that it planned to gradually replace the current Avro RJ100 fleet flown by Swiss Global with aircraft of the Bombardier CSeries from 2014.[10] The replacement of the twenty RJ100s was planned to take two years, while an additional ten aircraft would be delivered thereafter to allow for capacity expansion.[10] The new aircraft would allow Swiss to continue serving restricted destinations such as London City Airport or Florence Perétola Airport. With the delays to the Bombardier CSeries' development this date was postponed to 2015.[11] It was further postponed, with the first delivery, of a CS100, taking place in June 2016 with the first revenue flight on 15 July.[12] The Lufthansa Group is a launch customer for this aircraft type, and had previously signed a letter of intent for up to 60 aircraft.[13][14]

In December 2014, Swiss announced it would cease operations from EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg altogether by 31 May 2015, including Swiss Global Air Lines' operations there;[15] and subsequently concentrated on its operations in Zurich.

On 3 February 2015, Swiss International Air Lines announced the rebranding of Swiss European Air Lines to Swiss Global Air Lines.[5][16]

It was also confirmed on the same date, that Swiss International's six ordered Boeing 777-300ERs would be operated by Swiss Global Air Lines. These are the first aircraft for intercontinental flights in Swiss Global Air Lines' fleet.[16] A further three Boeing 777-300ER aircraft were ordered in 2015, bringing the commitment up to nine aircraft.[17] By April 2015, Swiss Global Air Lines requested traffic rights for flights to the United States to utilize the 777s on its parent's intercontinental routes.[18] The rights were granted by June 2015 and first used for flights to New York City from 2016.[19]

At the 2015 Paris Air Show, the airline announced it was switching 10 of its 30 orders for the Bombardier CS100 to the larger Bombardier CS300.[20] Another 5 orders for CS100 were converted to CS300 on 4 June 2016. On 29 June 2016, Swiss Global received its first CS100 as the worldwide launch customer.[20] The first revenue service took place on 15 July 2016 from Zürich to Paris.[12]

In March 2017, Swiss converted another five CS100 orders to CS300 orders, for a fleet of 10 CS100 and 20 CS300 aircraft by the end of 2018. Swiss also holds options for up to 30 additional CSeries aircraft.[21]

On 14 August 2017, the final remaining Swiss Avro RJ100 aircraft, registered HB-IYZ, completed its last regular flight from London City Airport to Zurich, followed by a special flight from Geneva to Zurich for a formal retirement the next day.[22] A total of 24 Avro RJ100 aircraft had been a part of the Swiss fleet since 2002.[22][23] In 2017, following the delivery of Swiss Global's first Bombardier CS300, parent company (Swiss International Air Lines) CEO Thomas Klühr announced that Swiss' Western Switzerland Base - Geneva fleet would consist of only Bombardier CSeries aircraft by the end of 2018, wholly operated by Swiss Global Air Lines, instead of Airbus A320 family aircraft.

On 14 August 2017, the final revenue RJ100 flight occurred, with the aircraft's formal retirement from Swiss service the following day.[22]

On 5 April 2018, it was announced that Swiss Global Air Lines would be dissolved, and all aircraft and employees were transferred to parent company Swiss International Air Lines by 19 April. The reason for this is considered to be the new labour agreement harmonizing pilot compensation across both companies that took effect on 1 April, negating the cost advantages of Swiss Global Airlines.[9][24]

Fleet

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Last fleet

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When Swiss Global Air Lines ceased operations in April 2018, its fleet consisted of the following aircraft:[25][26]

Aircraft In Service Orders Passengers Notes
F J Y Total Refs
Bombardier CS100 8 2 — variable 125 [27] Launch customer
Bombardier CS300 9 11 — variable 145 [28]
Boeing 777-300ER 10 — 8 62 270 340 [29] All were transferred back to Swiss International Air Lines.
Total 27 13

Historical fleet

[edit]
Historical fleet of Swiss Global Air Lines
Aircraft Total Year Introduced Year Retired Notes
Airbus A220-100 8 2016 2018 Transferred to Swiss International Air Lines.
Airbus A220-300 9 2016 2018
Avro RJ85 4 2005 2007 Taken over from Crossair.
Avro RJ100 20 2005 2017
Boeing 777-300ER 10 2016 2018 Transferred to Swiss International Air Lines.
Embraer ERJ-145 10 2005 2006 Taken over from Crossair.

References

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  1. ^ "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Handelsregister" (PDF) (in German). Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce. 9 September 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Swiss European Air Lines to take off on November 1". Swiss International Air Lines. 28 October 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  4. ^ "List of AOC Holders with Complex Airplanes" (PDF). Federal Office of Civil Aviation. 28 March 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Zürich: Swiss nennt Tochtergesellschaft um - NZZ News-Ticker". Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  6. ^ "Swiss European Air Lines - Zefix Firmenregister". Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Swiss European Air Lines Facts and Figures". Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved 29 September 2009. "Headquarters Swiss European Air Lines AG Postfach CH-8058 Zurich Airport Switzerland"
  8. ^ "Kloten - Ortspläne Schweiz". ortsplan.ch. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  9. ^ a b Nowack, Timo (5 April 2018). "Swiss lässt Swiss Global Air Lines sterben" (in German). aeroTELEGRAPH. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Press release 11.03.2009". www.swiss.com. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Swiss International Air Lines - Introduction of Bombardier CSeries". Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  12. ^ a b "SWISS to start Bombardier CS100 operations in mid-July" (Press release). Swiss International Air Lines. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  13. ^ "Swiss Investing in Further Fleet Renewal from 2014 On" (Press release). Swiss International Air Lines. 31 January 2010.
  14. ^ "Lufthansa board approves order for 30 CSeries aircraft". flightglobal.com. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
  15. ^ "Kurznachrichten: SWISS verlässt Basel, Regierungsterminal in Berlin und Fluggastzahlen von Air France | airportzentrale.de".
  16. ^ a b "Swiss meldet Boeing 777-300ER bei Regionaltochter an". 3 February 2015.
  17. ^ "Swiss Global Air Lines". Airliner World: 7. July 2015.
  18. ^ "Swiss Global: US-Rechte beantragt - Austrian Aviation Net". www.austrianaviation.net. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015.
  19. ^ "Swiss Global secures US traffic rights, FACP".
  20. ^ a b "Swiss converts ten CS100 orders into CS300s".
  21. ^ m.atwonline.com - Swiss converts five Bombardier CS100s to CS300s [dead link]
  22. ^ a b c "Curtain falls on Swiss Avro operations after 27 years". Flightglobal.com. 15 August 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  23. ^ bombardier.com
  24. ^ Gruber, Jan (5 April 2018). "Swiss löst Global Air Lines auf" (in German). Austrian Aviation Net. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  25. ^ "Swiss Aircraft Register". Federal Office of Civil Aviation. Search results for "Swiss Global Air Lines". Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  26. ^ "Swiss Global Air Lines Fleet | Airfleets aviation".
  27. ^ "Bombardier CS100". Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  28. ^ "Bombardier CS300". Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  29. ^ "Boeing 777-300ER". Swiss International Air Lines. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
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