Edelweiss Air

Edelweiss Air
IATA code :	WK
ICAO code :	EDW
Call sign :	EDELWEISS
Founding:	1995
Seat:	Kloten , Switzerland
Turnstile :	airport Zurich
Home airport :	airport Zurich
Company form:	Corporation
IATA prefix code :	945
Management:	Bernd Bauer ( CEO )
Number of employees:	1101 (2019)
Sales:	652 million CHF
Passenger volume:	2.35 million PAX
Alliance :	Lufthansa Group ( Star Alliance )
Fleet size:	16
Aims:	national, international
Website:	www.flyedelweiss.com

Edelweiss Air is a Swiss airline based in Kloten and based at Zurich Airport . Edelweiss Air is a subsidiary of Lufthansa and thus a sister company of Swiss International Air Lines and has been part of the Lufthansa Group since November 1, 2008 .

history

1995 - foundation and first years

The airline was founded on October 19, 1995 in Zurich by the travel group Kuoni and the Greek Venus Air (the parent company of Venus Airlines ). From February 10, 1996, the first Edelweiss Air flights took place with two McDonnell Douglas MD-83s , a very common model for charter flights in the short and medium-haul range at the time. In the spring of 1997 Edelweiss Air bought another MD-83.

2000 - New Airbus planes

At the end of the 1990s, Edelweiss Air decided to build a fleet of Airbus aircraft and took over the first of initially three Airbus A320-200s on February 4, 2000 . An Airbus A330-200 for long-haul flights was added at the end of November 2000 . The termination and renegotiation of the leasing contract for this A330 in 2004 led the media to speculate that Edelweiss Air would sell the aircraft.

Since 2008 - Edelweiss Air as a sister company of Swiss

The merger of the company with Swiss was announced on February 8, 2008, as part of a strategic partnership between the previous owner Kuoni and Swiss. The airline will continue to operate independently with its own management, fleet and crew, and the “Edelweiss Air” brand was retained. The takeover was completed on November 1, 2008.

In September 2013, the introduction of a new business class with completely flat beds and, for the first time, a premium economy class on long-haul flights was announced. In November 2015, Edelweiss Air presented a slightly modified aircraft paint scheme; “Switzerland” was added to the lettering on the aircraft. When the first A340 aircraft was launched in 2016, new uniforms were introduced after 21 years.

During the COVID-19 pandemic , regular flight operations were restricted from March 2020 and part of the fleet was parked in Dübendorf . Long-haul aircraft brought Swiss tourists back to Switzerland from the airline's destination and, on charter flights on behalf of the federal government, from Peru and Colombia.

Destinations

Countries served by Edelweiss Air (July 2017)

Edelweiss Air flies from Zurich to numerous European and intercontinental holiday destinations. It serves 68 destinations in 33 countries. In the North American area, the airline serves Las Vegas, San Diego, Tampa, Orlando, Vancouver, Calgary and Denver. In Central and South America, the airline serves Punta Cana, San Jose, Havana, Cancun, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Varadero. On the African continent, there are flights to Marrakech, Cape Town, Port Louis on Mauritius, Sharm-el-Sheik, Hurghada, Marsa Alam and the Seychelles. In Asia, the airline flies to Phuket, Malé, Colombo and Ho Chi Minh City. Most long haul destinations are served seasonally and once or twice a week.

fleet

As of March 2020, the Edelweiss Air fleet consists of 16 aircraft with an average age of 15.6 years:

10x Airbus A320-200

Seats: Business 12, Eco 156 = 168.

Average age: 17.1 years

A320
Registration	Image of the airplane	delivery	Baptismal name	comment
HB-IHX		01/29/1999	Bosco Gurin (since 2018), Calvaro (1999–2018)
HB-IHY		02/12/1999	Blüemlisalp (since 2016), Upali (1999–2016)
HB-IHZ		06/25/1999	Kaiseregg (since 2018), Victoria (1999-2018)
HB-IJU		11/22/2015	Corvatsch	ex. Swiss HB-IJU
HB-IJV		04/03/2012	Schatzalp (since 2017), Macun (2012–2017)	ex. Swiss HB-IJV
HB-IJW		04/05/2014	Braunwald (since 2017), Shayan (2014–2017)	ex. Swiss HB-IJW
HB-JJK		05/09/2018	Sorebois	ex. LATAM Airlines Brasil PR-MHB
HB-JJL		02/11/2018	Säntis	ex. Air Berlin D-ABNV
HB-JJM		01/28/2018	Brienzer Rothorn	ex Air Berlin D-ABNW
HB-JJN		02/08/2019	Stanserhorn	ex. Laudamotion OE-LOG

2x Airbus A330-300

Seats: Business 27, Eco + 56, Eco 232 = 315.

Average age: 6.6 years

A330
Registration	Image of the airplane	delivery	Baptismal name	comment
HB-JHQ		02/18/2011	Pizol (since 2008), Chamsin (2011-2018)
HB-YEAR		03/23/2016	Chäserrugg

4x Airbus A340-300

Seats: Business 27, Eco + 76, Eco 211 = 314. Average age: 16.4 years

A340
Registration	Image of the airplane	delivery	Baptismal name	comment
HB-JMD		08/13/2018	Glacier 3000	ex. Swiss HB-JMD
HB-JME		March 31, 2018	Pilate	ex. Swiss HB-JME
HB-JMF		04/13/2017	Belalp	ex. Swiss HB-JMF
HB-JMG		09/24/2016	Melchsee-Frutt	ex. Swiss HB-JMG

Former fleet

2x Airbus A330-200

A330
Registration	Image of the airplane	Working time	Baptismal name	comment
HB-IQZ		11/17/2000 - 11/17/2010	" Bahari "	To Air Transat as C-GTSN
HB-IQI		October 19, 2010 - January 31, 2017	" Kiburi "	To Brussels Airlines as OO-SFT

3x McDonnell Douglas MD-83

MD-83
Registration	Image of the airplane	Working time	Baptismal name	comment
HB-IKM		02/23/1996 - 02/10/1999		To Meridiana as EI-CRW
HB-IKN		01/31/1996 - 02/10/1999		To Meridiana as EI-CRH
HB-IKP		02/14/1997 - 03/19/1999		To Spanair as EC-HBP

Name concept

Since it was founded, Edelweiss Air aircraft have been painted red and white with Edelweiss flowers as a symbol of the company's Swiss origins. In 2015 the painting was little changed by enlarging the edelweiss flower on the tail fin and adding <<Switzerland>> to the fuselage. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Edelweiss Air, a Zeppelin NT in the Edelweiss colors flew from spring to autumn 2015 in German-speaking Switzerland .

As of 2016, the aircraft in the fleet (now in full) have been given the names of Swiss regions where the Edelweiss is "at home". Benches (modeled on aircraft seats and referred to as Edelweiss benches ) were set up at these high-lying vantage points and supplemented by signposts showing the flight destinations that the aircraft in question is approaching with the direction and distance.

• 

  Advertising zeppelin for the 20th anniversary

• 

  Rhaetian Railway locomotive as an advertising medium

See also

• List of airlines

literature

• With edelweiss to warm water , Peter Brotsch, pp. 22–27, Flug-Revue, 03/2008 edition.

Web links

Commons : Edelweiss Air  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Edelweiss Air website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] , accessed on November 4, 2019
2. ↑ swiss.com - WEKO approves takeover of Edelweiss Air by SWISS, April 16, 2008 , accessed on July 23, 2014
3. ↑ flightglobal.com - Edelweiss flowers at Luton, May 1, 1996 (English), accessed December 27, 2013
4. ↑ NZZ - Swiss takes over Edelweiss airline, February 8, 2008 accessed on July 18, 2014
5. ↑ Handelszeitung - Board of Directors of the Swiss subsidiary Edelweiss Air determined June 30, 2008 ( memento of July 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on July 18, 2014
6. ↑ aerotelegraph.com - Edelweiss accessed very long flights on September 7, 2013
7. ↑ aerotelegraph.com - Brush Strokes Demonstrating Strength , accessed December 4, 2015
8. ↑ Edelweiss grows in Zurich. nzz.ch , December 1, 2016, accessed on January 7, 2017 . 
9. ↑ Should the state help Swiss? And if so, how should that be done? , NZZ, March 24, 2020
10. ↑ Swiss Airlift , Cockpit, March 23, 2020
11. ↑ Radio SRF 1 Nachrichten , March 25, 2020
12. ↑ Edelweiss Air Fleet Details and History. In: planespotters.net. Retrieved March 8, 2020 . 
13. ↑ process-group.com - Edelweiss Air celebrates 20th birthday with Zeppelin accessed on June 11, 2015