On 1 April this year, we celebrated 20 years of the formation of the new Swiss International Air Lines and our stewardship of the brand in Australia.
Like the mythical phoenix, it rose from the ashes of the former iconic airline, Swissair. With a highly successful turnaround (or SWISS start-up, if you like), it is easy to forget the enormity of the challenge back in 2002. Europe was a very fragmented market back then and still is relative to the US. SWISS joined Lufthansa group in 2005 as a full acquisition, grew rapidly and surpassed the size and network of the former Swissair.
Together with other core airlines Lufthansa and Austrian, the group has emerged as the leading aviation group with a strong footprint in all established and emerging markets. Asia Pacific business has grown substantially both, on SWISS capacities as well as through joint ventures with All Nippon Airways, Singapore Airlines and Air China. For Australia, the Singapore Airlines (SQ) joint-venture has special significance. SQ not only is the premium airline in the region but services Australia to and from all major and secondary cities.
This partnership is expected to grow significantly with an extensive coverage of Europe in 2022. Right through the Covid crisis, SWISS and Lufthansa Group remained active in Australia, caring for disrupted passengers and supporting travel trade partners to instill trust in the travelling public for the airline brands in the Lufthansa Group. Support services were further enhanced through a new support center in Fiji with the overall objective of emerging from Covid fit for purpose and ready for the recovery of demand. As in 2002, SWISS treated the latest crisis as an opportunity to sharpen its customer focus and strengthen its trade relationships. In the coming months, a brand new Premium Economy service is being rolled out and there is renewed confidence within the airline of a strong future in Australia and the region.