Home » AIRLINE NEWS » SWISS Accelerates Return To Tel Aviv With Early Resumption Of Flights On September 25
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Author: TTW News Desk
SWISS Airlines is to reinstate its flights to Tel Aviv on September 25, four days before it originally planned, due to high demand. The carrier will look to return to scheduled operations sooner if it is apparent that they are able to do so, and has the aircraft and crew in position for a potential early return. Flights play daily with an Airbus A330 on this route, giving passengers more flexibility. Zurich to Tel Aviv LX252 and the return leg LX253 back to Zurich.
The early restart of Tel Aviv flights comes after SWISS resumed services to Beirut on August 3, demonstrating the airline’s dedication to expanding and strengthening its route network in response to increasing demand.
SWISS Reports Stable First-Half Revenues Despite Operational Challenges
In the first half of 2025, SWISS reported an operating result of CHF 195.1 million, marking a 26% decline compared to the same period in 2024. Despite this decline, total revenues for the period remained steady at CHF 2.69 billion, largely unchanged from the previous year. The company faced a challenging market environment, with rising operational costs and structural capacity shortages, which contributed to the reduction in earnings.
However, SWISS improved its operational performance, achieving a 72.4% on-time departure rate, which represents an increase of 3.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the company maintained a high schedule stability of 97.6%, showcasing its ability to adapt to the challenges posed by international crises, airspace closures, and service cancellations.
Operational Enhancements and Customer Experience Focus
Despite the challenges, SWISS remained focused on refining its customer experience. The airline continued to expand its fleet, adding more aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family. Furthermore, new services were introduced in both Economy and Premium Economy classes for long-haul flights, aimed at enhancing passenger comfort and experience. These moves are part of SWISS’s strategy to reinforce its position as a premium airline, ensuring a high-quality experience for all travelers.
Second-Quarter Earnings Decline Amid Weaker Demand
The second quarter of 2025 saw a further decline in earnings, with adjusted EBIT falling to CHF 191.7 million, a drop of 18% from the same period in 2024. Total revenues for Q2 amounted to CHF 1.47 billion, reflecting a 1.2% decrease compared to the prior-year quarter. Despite this, SWISS transported 8.5 million passengers in the first half of the year, a slight increase of 0.1% from the previous year.
The airline saw an increase in the number of flights operated, up 1.8% year-on-year, and raised capacity by 2.7%. However, the systemwide seat load factor declined by 1.8 percentage points to 80.0%. This indicates a slight dip in overall capacity utilization, which can be attributed to various market challenges.
Addressing Challenges in the Transatlantic Market
SWISS anticipates continued pressure on its earnings in the second half of 2025. Specifically, the airline’s transatlantic business has been impacted by weaker demand for non-premium-class travel, putting direct pressure on yields. The cargo sector has also faced difficulties, with global economic trends affecting the volume of shipments. SWISS is preparing for these ongoing challenges by implementing a comprehensive action package, including agreements with its social partner Aeropers to increase the availability of cockpit personnel.
Additionally, SWISS will work selectively with wet-lease partners to stabilize its short-haul capacities, ensuring minimal disruption to long-haul flights. The airline will also receive two new Airbus A350 aircraft in the second half of 2025, which will be equipped with the new SWISS Senses cabin. This will offer an enhanced long-haul air travel experience, providing passengers with improved comfort and amenities across all seating classes.
SWISS Senses Cabin and Inflight Service Upgrades
SWISS’s latest innovation to enhance the long-haul flight experience on board is Senses, SWISS’s new All-New cabin, and will be featured as an exclusive addition to its two new state-of-the-art Airbus A350 aircraft. Beyond this, there are expected enhancements to seating comfort and dining options as well as inflight digital services. It is a premium international airline and These upgrades therefore build on SWISS’s commitment to its continual improvement of its services.
Dedicated to perfection and sustainable development, SWISS continues to prioritise providing customers with best-in-class services and operational excellence, in a challenging economic environment.
