Swiss International

Swiss International Air Lines Ltd ( Toronto Reservation & Ticket Sales Phone )

Reservations Phone: +1 877 359 7947
24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. (short name: Swiss) is the main airline of Switzerland operating scheduled services in Europe and to South America, North America, Africa and Asia. Company's main hub is Zurich Kloten Airport (ZRH). Swiss airline is a subsidiary of the Lufthansa airline. Swiss International Air Lines uses the IATA Code LX, which it inherited from the Swiss regional airline Crossair (Swissair's code was SR). The ICAO code is SWR, inherited from Swissair (Crossair's was CRX).

Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. was formed after the 2001 bankruptcy of Swissair, Switzerland's former flag carrier. Their losses totaled $1.6 billion from its startup until 2005. The airline's biggest creditors, Credit Suisse and UBS, arranged to sell part of Swissair's assets to Crossair, the regional counterpart to the transatlantic Swissair (both Swissair and Crossair were ownsd by the same holding company SAirGroup). Crossair changed its name to Swiss, and the new national airline started its service on March 31, 2002. The airline was owned by institutional investors (61.3%), Swiss Confederation (20.3%), cantons and communities (12.2%) and others (6.2%). Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. also owns subsidiary companies Swiss Sun (100%) and Crossair Europe (99.9%). The company has a total of 7359 employees. Swiss Airbus A340 at Narita Airport, JapanSwiss International Air Lines, or "Swiss" was founded from the remains of Crossair.

Following Lufthansa's takeover, the regional fleet was changed from Embraer ERJs and Saabs to Avro RJs ( BAe 146), which are flown by a subsidiary, Swiss European Air Lines. The rest of the fleet was also rationalised and is now all Airbus. The airline reconstruction also caused the company to renegotiate their supplier contracts, including ground handling, food service, maintenance and labor. The shareholders of Swiss received a performance-based option for their shares. Lufthansa continues to maintain
Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. as a separate brand.