Swiss slowly takes wing

Flights to Asia were particularly popular Keystone

The national airline, Swiss, says it increased its seat-load factor in 2004 by 2.5 percentage points to 74.9 per cent.

The improvement was largely due to a 3.3 percentage point rise to 81.3 per cent on its intercontinental flights.

The airline’s European network saw a smaller improvement last year, with an increase of 1.2 percentage points to bring the seat-load factor to 60.8%.

During the year Swiss carried 9.2 million passengers – 1.5 million fewer than in 2003.

In 2004 the airline further cut its network, offering 18% fewer seat kilometres than the previous year.

European network

In December, Swiss saw a 1.1 percentage point decrease in seat-load factor over the same month in 2003.

In a statement on Tuesday, Swiss attributed the December decrease in Europe to “continuing strong pressure from competitors – especially low-cost carriers”.

The seat-load factor on European flights was down to 55.5 per cent in December.

In contrast, Swiss appears to have turned the corner on its intercontinental routes, with a steady rise in passenger numbers since last March.

More than 84 per cent of all seats on flights to the Far East and on North-Atlantic routes were occupied in December.

The cargo business of Swiss developed positively in 2004. The cargo load factor (by volume) stood at 86.6 per cent, an increase of 2.2 percentage points.

“Swiss WorldCargo’s strategy of focusing consistently on niche product markets is clearly having a beneficial effect on business development and results,” the airline said.

swissinfo with agencies

Key facts

Seat-load factor shows the number of paying passengers as a proportion of available seats.
Swiss increased its seat-load factor in 2004 by 2.5 percentage points to 74.9%.
Intercontinental flights had a seat-load factor of 81.3%.
In Europe, the seat-load factor was 60.8%.
The airline counted 9.2 million passengers in 2004.