Asia
The final three of the six additional Airbus A340s foreseen by the SWISS' fleet expansion plan will enter revenue service between now and late summer, enabling to further expand the intercontinental network. As a result, a non-stop daily service between Zurich and Shanghai will be available as from 9 May, enlarging the Asian network to seven destinations. The daily A340 connection will offer 18 tons of capacity in and out of the Chinese metropolis.
The expansion follows last November's introduction of a new daily service on the Zurich-Delhi route. In another innovation, Singapore will receive a daily flight via Bangkok (instead of the present six-times-weekly service) from June to October, further strengthening Swiss WorldCargo's position in the growing Asian market.
Africa & Near East
Service to Cameroon is also being expanded. From the start of the summer schedules, SWISS will offer three non-stop flights a week from Zurich to Douala (instead of the present two). Yaound' sees its service (via Douala) increased from one to three weekly flights. The additional frequencies are being introduced in response to growing customer demand for services to and from Cameroon. SWISS will also be raising its services to Dar es Salaam (via Nairobi) from five to six weekly flights for the July-to-August high season.
Moreover, as from last March, both daily flights between Zurich and Tel Aviv are now operated by A340; all in all, Swiss WorldCargo now offers 42 tons of cargo capacity to and from one of the Near East's most important gateways for air trade.
North America
SWISS's North American network will also undergo enhancements in the course of the summer timetable period. Boston, Chicago and New York will be served with A340 instead of A330 with a significant increase in capacity, following a positive market response to these destinations.
Europe
As from 30 March 2008, Swiss WorldCargo has consolidated its position in the European market too, with the introduction of daily scheduled services between Zurich and three new destinations: St. Petersburg, Sofia and Florence. A daily connection to St. Petersburg and Sofia is operated by aircraft of the A320 family, with a selling capacity of 1.7 tons per flight, whereas Florence is served twice a day by Avro RJ 100, offering a capacity of 400 kilos per flight.
The present capacity growth in the Swiss WorldCargo European network is rounded off by the addition of further frequencies to existing routes and by moves to integrate Geneva more closely into the worldwide network - by offering flights to and from Bucharest, Rome and Istanbul. All these destinations are served by Airbus A319 or A320 aircraft with cargo capacity of between two and two-and-a-half tons. Moreover, SWISS's Basel-based network sees the addition of a new non-stop Belgrade flight.
Swiss WorldCargo has been continuously evaluating opportunities to enhance products and services for customers through the cooperation with Lufthansa Cargo and its subsidiary or affiliate companies.
Besides the comprehensive capacity agreement with Lufthansa Cargo, that allows each carrier to make use of selected cargo capacity on the partner company's network, Swiss WorldCargo's sales partnerships with Lufthansa Cargo Charter worldwide as well as for time:matters in Zurich, Budapest and Rome, will continue to be further asset to Swiss WorldCargo's customers through the summer timetable period.
