Edelweiss schedules widebody Pristina flights

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Emirates posts first loss in 30 years

Dubai-based Emirates airline has posted a $5.5 billion annual loss, its first in more than three decades, after the coronavirus pandemic devastated the aviation industry. The carrier said it received a capital injection of $3.1 billion from its owner, the government of Dubai, to help it survive the crisis. The Emirates group was "hit hard by the drop in demand for international air travel as countries closed their borders and imposed stringent travel restrictions", said Chairman and Chief Executive, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum. "No one knows when the pandemic will be over, but we know recovery will be patchy", he said in a statement. The Middle East's largest carrier said that the fallout triggered a loss of 20.3 billion dirhams ($5.5 billion) over the financial year to March, after last year's 1.1 billion dirhams ($288 million) profit. The airline, which was forced to temporarily suspend scheduled operations last year, saw revenue fall 66% to $8.4 billion. Over the fiscal year Emirates carried 6.6 million passengers, down 88% from the same period in the previous year. "The Covid-19 pandemic continues to take a tremendous toll on human lives, communities, economies, and on the aviation and travel industry", Sheikh Ahmed said. "Economies and companies that entered pandemic times in a strong position, will be better placed to bounce back", he added. The last time the airline reported a loss was in the 1987-88 financial year, when it was starting up its operations. Like other major carriers, Emirates began announcing heavy layoffs when its fleet of A380 superjumbos and Boeing 777s was grounded. The Emirates Group's employee base - which includes ground-handling firm Dnata - was slashed by 30.8% to 75.145 employees. Before the virus hit, Emirates airline alone employed some 60.033 staff, including 4.300 pilots and nearly 22.000 cabin crew. The workforce has now shrunk to 40.801 staff. Emirates is currently flying to 157 destinations, almost its full travel network of 158 destinations in 85 countries before the pandemic.
Source: France 24

Edelweiss schedules widebody Pristina flights

NEWS FLASH

Switzerland's Edelweiss Air will utilise its widebody Airbus A340-300 aircraft between Zurich and Pristina over the height of the summer season. The 314-seat jet will be deployed on the route starting July 2, each Monday, Thursday and Friday. The aircraft is currently scheduled to operate between the two cities until August 20, however, this may be extended. The quadjet features 27 seats in business class, 76 in economy max, and the remaining 211 seats in its standard economy cabin. Edelweiss was the sixth busiest airline in Pristina last year, handling 84.963 passengers.

Edelweiss Air A340-300 business class cabin

Edelweiss Air A340-300 economy class cabin

Comments

Visit Kosovo11:07
Such a product for 2 hour flight is genuinely wonderful. Reviews of Edelweiss business class, if you can afford it, are generally very positive.

And for those of you wondering, yes, a large part (if not the majority) of the seats on Edelweiss flights are sold by independent travel agents. Bookings can also be made on swiss.com and GDS.

The compete with Chair Airlines (Air Prishtina) flying twice daily from Zurich and daily from Basel. Low-cost competition flies from Basel (100 km away) and is served by both easyJet Switzerland and Wizz Air.

It's a very healthy competitive market: GDS/legacy, low-cost, and independent travel agents. Pick the one that suits you best. No one is forcing you to use one or the other.
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JetFly11:29
Last year they used to cover this sector twice daily with an A340. Good job EDW.
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Edelweiss schedules widebody Pristina flights

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