Edelweiss Air AG is a Swiss leisure and charter airline and the sister company of Swiss International Air Lines and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. It operates flights to European and intercontinental destinations from its base at Zürich Airport.[5]

Edelweiss Air
IATA ICAO Callsign
WK[1] EDW EDELWEISS
Founded19 October 1995; 28 years ago (1995-10-19)[2]
AOC #CH.AOC.1007[3]
Operating basesZurich Airport
Fleet size18
Destinations65
Parent companySwiss International Air Lines[4]
HeadquartersKloten, Zürich, Switzerland
Key peopleBernd Bauer (CEO)
FounderNick Grob
Employees540 (January 2015)
Websitewww.flyedelweiss.com

History edit

Early years edit

The airline was founded on 19 October 1995 in Bassersdorf, Switzerland, with just one aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-83. The company's name is derived from the Swiss unofficial national flower, the Edelweiss, which is also painted on its aircraft.

The fleet was subsequently expanded and renewed. In 1998, new Airbus A320-200s were introduced to replace the MD-83s, and in 1999 long-haul flights were commenced using the Airbus A330-200.

For seven consecutive years between 2001 and 2008, Edelweiss Air received the golden Travelstar Award for its achievements.[6]

Until November 2008, Edelweiss Air was wholly owned by Kuoni Travel and had 190 employees,[7] when the operating rights were sold to Swiss International Air Lines, in exchange for sale rights of hotel capacities via the Swiss sales network. Following Swiss International Air Lines being acquired by the German Lufthansa Group in 2005, Edelweiss Air also became a subsidiary of Europe's largest airline group at the same time it was acquired by Swiss.[8]

Developments since 2010 edit

In March 2011, Edelweiss Air added the larger Airbus A330-300 to its fleet, with an order having been placed on 5 April 2010.[9] In July 2015, it was announced that Edelweiss would receive four Airbus A340-300s between 2017 and 2018 previously operated by its parent Swiss International Air Lines. The aircraft were used to expand the route network.[10]

In November 2015, Edelweiss introduced a revised livery on one of its Airbus A320-200s which was subsequently applied to the rest of the airline's fleet.[11] In December 2016, Edelweiss Air phased out its sole Airbus A330-200, which was transferred to Brussels Airlines and replaced by Airbus A340-300s inherited from parent Swiss.[12] In 2021 Lufthansa moved Edelweiss Air's two Airbus A330-300s to Eurowings Discover.[13]

Destinations and Codeshare Agreements edit

Codeshare agreements edit

Fleet edit

 
Edelweiss Air Airbus A320-200
 
Edelweiss Air Airbus A340-300
 
A former Edelweiss Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 (1997).

Current fleet edit

As of October 2023, Edelweiss Air operates the following aircraft:[15]

Edelweiss Air fleet
Aircraft In
service
Orders Passengers Notes
J Y+ Y Total
Airbus A320-200 13[16] 174 174
Airbus A340-300 5[16] 27 76 211 314 To be retired and replaced by Airbus A350-900s.[17]
Airbus A350-900 6 30 63 246 339 Deliveries begin 2025 to replace Airbus A340-300s.[17][18]
Total 18 6

Former fleet edit

In the past, Edelweiss Air has operated the following aircraft:

Edelweiss Air former fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Ref
Airbus A330-200 2 2000 2016 [12]
Airbus A330-300 2 2011 2021 [13]
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 3 1996 1999 [19]

References edit

  1. ^ "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Edelweiss Air Fleet Details and History". Archived from the original on 23 February 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  3. ^ "List of AOC Holders with Complex Airplanes" (PDF). Federal Office of Civil Aviation. 28 March 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Deutsche Lufthansa AG" (PDF). Deutsche Lufthansa AG. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Ground Map". Edelweiss Air. Retrieved 17 September 2011.[dead link]
  6. ^ "Edelweiss Air History & Awards". Archived from the original on 5 June 2009.
  7. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 3 April 2007. p. 76.
  8. ^ "Swiss International buys Edelweiss Air" (Press release).
  9. ^ "Edelweiss orders A330".
  10. ^ "Edelweiss Air to add one more A320, three Swiss A340s". ch-aviation. 9 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Edelweiss Switzerland Flugzeuge erhalten neues Design" [Edelweiss Switzerland aircraft get a new design]. ZRH-Spotter (in German). 14 November 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Switzerland's Edelweiss Air ends A330-200 operations". ch-aviation. 27 December 2016.
  13. ^ a b aerotelegraph.com (German) 1 July 2021
  14. ^ "Air Canada Begins Edelweiss Air Codeshare in NS24".
  15. ^ "Fleet | Edelweiss". www.flyedelweiss.com. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  16. ^ a b "SWISS and Edelweiss Air - Lufthansa Group". www.lufthansagroup.com. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
  17. ^ a b "Swiss Leisure Airline Edelweiss Will Procure LATAM's Airbus A350-900 To Phase Out Its A340-300 Long-haul Fleet". FL360Aero. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  18. ^ "Edelweiss modernises its long-haul fleet with the Airbus A350-900". Edelweiss Air (Press release). Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  19. ^ "Edelweiss Air Fleet of MD80". Airfleets Aviation. Retrieved 24 April 2021.

External links edit

  Media related to Edelweiss Air at Wikimedia Commons