Swiss International Air Lines will discontinue its seasonal summer flights to both Zagreb and Sarajevo. The decision follows the planned termination of its year-round services to Niš from November 29. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, the airline said, “Swiss regularly reviews its route network for possible adjustments and its further development, to ensure that its aircraft fleet is deployed on it as effectively as possible. The prime considerations in these activities include current demand, the development potential offered by individual routes and the competitive landscape. As part of these ongoing endeavours to optimise our route network as a whole, we have decided to cease service to Sarajevo and Zagreb as of the 2020 summer schedule”.
Swiss operated three weekly services to Zagreb this past summer season and two weekly frequencies to Sarajevo. The airline will maintain its presence on the Croatian market with the resumption of its seasonal one weekly flight between Geneva and Pula from June 20, 2020. Furthermore, the airline will continue to codeshare on Croatia Airlines’ two daily services between Zagreb and Switzerland’s largest city. On the other hand, Swiss will no longer serve Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Sarajevo will no longer be linked to Zurich. In response, Lufthansa, whose parent company owns Switzerland’s national carrier, has scheduled a second daily flight between Munich and Sarajevo starting next summer season.
Swiss International Air Lines launched flights from Zurich to Zagreb and Sarajevo in the summer of 2015 on a year-round basis, however, both were downgraded to seasonal operations the following year and their frequencies reduced. The airline recently told EX-YU Aviation News that the former Yugoslavia remains an important market for the company. “The former Yugoslav market is very interesting for Swiss, as there is a big community from the Balkan area living in Switzerland. We focus on our customers’ needs from and to Switzerland”. However, the company added it undertakes a continuous process in which it regularly assesses and reassesses its destination portfolio on the basis of the respective market conditions and their potential.
