PostedSeptember 22, 2021, 3:41 PM
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Swiss announces the resumption of the connection from Geneva in mid-December. But only on certain days.
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- Pierre-Alexandre Sallier
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The flight between Geneva and New York was operated, before the pandemic, with an Airbus A330-300.
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On the occasion of the presentation of their winter program, Swiss International Air Lines announced this Tuesday morning the resumption of direct flights between Geneva and New York from December 14. The carrier plans “up to four flights per week” – compared to one per day previously – to JFK, New York’s main airport.
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The only long-haul route operated from Cointrin by the former national carrier – now a subsidiary of Lufthansa – has been suspended since March 2020. For good reason. United States airports have been closed for twenty months to any passenger from the Schengen Area making a “non-essential” trip there – with the exception of American citizens, holders of “green card” type residence permits or even local employees.
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Twenty months off
This closure applied to travelers from all over the European Union. Last June, several European companies had thus requested the reopening of the transatlantic sky, while the G7 summit began in the United Kingdom. While some of the flights were never interrupted – unlike Geneva–New York – they were often half empty. While usually they are among the most profitable.
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The situation changed last Monday. Washington has announced that travelers from Europe will be able to enter the country again from “early November”. Provided that that they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and that they have tested negative within three days of their departure. “We had already worked on the resumption of this line before the announcement made by the American government”, indicates one within the company.
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This reopening of the American borders to “non-essential” travel from November will of course also apply to the direct flight between Geneva and Newark, another New York airport, operated by United Airlines.
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Drastic restructuring
By presenting its destinations for the winter season on Tuesday, Swiss indicated that the choice would be “as wide as before the pandemic”. However, the frequencies will be lower. The company with the white cross thus plans not to offer more than half of the capacities offered in 2019 in its winter program.
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Swiss is in the process of completing a drastic restructuring program which will have led it to cut nearly 1,700 jobs out of 9,000 by the end of the year. “In 2019, our activities in Geneva posted black figures, the objective of course remains to return to this situation”, said last month in these columns the boss of Swiss, Dieter Vranckx. The latter then explained that Cointrin would be affected by the restructuring plan in a proportional way, with “between one and two planes deployed less” on the Geneva tarmac.
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