Swissair may still come to regret its decision to drop intercontinental flights from Geneva after the Swiss parliament mandated limited special treatment for regional airports in new bilateral agreements. But critics say the measures don't go far enough.
The parliament bowed to pressure from the western cantons by giving new route launches out of Geneva preference over Zurich but opted to extend Swissair's monopoly on its current network until 2008, a cut of three years.
Swissair gave a broad welcome to the new provisions, which have to be ratified by the upper house and are likely to come into force in mid-1998. 'There is no impact at present but if another airline offered a service from Geneva to Zurich and on to the final destination then we would probably not get the traffic rights,' says Erwin Kaltenbrünner, general manager external relations. Under the new act Swissair's exclusive concession on routes to the European Union will lapse if Switzerland joins the EU's air transport regime, though this remains blocked by disputes over EU-Swiss road links.
Officials at Geneva airport, which has lobbied for preferential treatment since Swissair's pull-back, remain disappointed. Yves Viredaz, Geneva's marketing director, says the rejection of an open skies regime for Geneva still leaves it at a disadvantage to Zurich in any bilateral talks limited by single airport designation.
Swiss World Airways, the Geneva-based startup due to launch US services in November, is unhappy at the extension of the Swissair monopoly. The Swiss-US open skies deal allows the carrier to launch US services but plans for Cairo, Africa and Asia will remain stalled.
Source: Airline Business
