Edelweiss Air

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

Edelweiss Air
IATA ICAO Callsign
WK[1] EDW EDELWEISS
Founded19 October 1995[2]
AOC #CH.AOC.1007[3]
HubsZurich Airport
Fleet size16
Destinations65
Parent companySwiss International Air Lines[4]
HeadquartersKloten, Switzerland
Key people
  • Nick Grob, founder
  • Bernd Bauer, CEO
Employees540 (January 2015)
Websiteflyedelweiss.com

History
A now retired Edelweiss Air McDonnell Douglas MD-83 in 1997

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 excellent achievements.[6]

Until November 2008, Edelweiss Air was wholly owned by Kuoni Travel Ltd 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 Airlines 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]

As of 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 was used to expand the route network.[10]

In November 2015, Edelweiss introduced a revised livery on one of its Airbus A320-200s which will be applied on their entire fleet.[11] In December 2016, Edelweiss Air phased out their sole Airbus A330-200, which has been handed over to Brussels Airlines and was replaced by Airbus A340-300s inherited from parent Swiss.[12]

Destinations
Main article: List of Edelweiss Air destinations

Fleet
Edelweiss Air Airbus A320-200

As of August 2019, the Edelweiss Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:[13]

Edelweiss Air fleet
Aircraft In service[13] Orders Passengers Notes
J Y+ Y Total
Airbus A320-200 10 — — — 174 174[13]
Airbus A330-300 2 — 27 56 232 315[13]
Airbus A340-300 4 — 27 76 211 314[13]
Total 16 —
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References
  1. "IATA - Airline and Airport Code Search". iata.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. "Edelweiss Air Fleet Details and History".
  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." (Archive, See image Archived 2011-11-11 at the Wayback Machine) Edelweiss Air. Retrieved on 17 September 2011.
  6. Edelweiss Air History & Awards Archived 2009-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 2007-04-03. p. 76.
  8. "Swiss International buys Edelweiss Air".
  9. "Edelweiss orders A330".
  10. ch-aviation.com - Edelweiss Air to add one more A320, three Swiss A340s 9 July 2015
  11. "Edelweiss Switzerland Flugzeuge erhalten neues Design - ZRH-Spotter".
  12. http://ch-aviation.com/portal/news/52010-switzerlands-edelweiss-air-ends-a330-200-operations
  13. "The Edelweiss fleet". Retrieved 20 January 2019.

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