Swissair plans to fly three times a day between Zurich and London's Stansted Airport from October using 126-seat Airbus A319s, countering the growing threat from UK no-frills carriers such as easyJet and Go.
Stansted-based British Airways subsidiary Go has applied for slots to launch services to Geneva from October while easyJet is in the middle of acquiring the Swiss airline TEA and hopes to conclude the deal by the end of the year, giving it access to Geneva.
Although Swissair subsidiary Crossair flies into London City Airport from Zurich, Geneva and Lugano, its parent is determined to maintain its share of its home market. EasyJet says it hopes to operate some services from Zurich if the TEA acquisition goes to plan.
Meanwhile, easyJet is expanding its route network from its Luton base with services to Belfast, Northern Ireland, Faro in Portugal and Madrid, Alicante and Malaga in Spain as planned.
Source: Flight International
