Edelweiss Air

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Edelweiss Air
Edelweiss Air logo.svg
IATA ICAO Callsign
WK[1] EDW EDELWEISS
Founded19 October 1995 (1995-10-19)[2]
AOC #CH.AOC.1007[3]
HubsZürich Airport
Fleet size14
Destinations65
Parent companySwiss International Air Lines[4]
HeadquartersKloten, Zürich, Switzerland
Key people
  • Nick Grob, founder
  • Bernd Bauer, CEO
Employees540 (January 2015)
Websiteflyedelweiss.com

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

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 achievements.[6]

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

On 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 were used to expand the route network.[10]

In November 2015, Edelweiss introduced a revised livery on one of its Airbus A320-200s which was subsequently applied to the rest of the airline's fleet.[11] In December 2016, Edelweiss Air phased out its sole Airbus A330-200, which was transferred to Brussels Airlines and replaced by Airbus A340-300s inherited from parent Swiss.[12] In 2021 Lufthansa moved Edelweiss Air's two Airbus A330-300s to Eurowings Discover.[13]

Destinations[]

Fleet[]

Edelweiss Air Airbus A320-200
Edelweiss Air Airbus A340-300

As of May 2021, the Edelweiss Air fleet consists of the following aircraft:[14]

Edelweiss Air fleet
Aircraft In
service
Orders Passengers Notes
J Y+ Y Total
Airbus A320-200 10 174 174
Airbus A340-300 4 27 76 211 314
Total 14

Former fleet[]

Edelweiss Air has previously operated the following aircraft:

Edelweiss Air former fleet
Aircraft Total Introduced Retired Ref
Airbus A330-200 2 2000 2016 [12]
Airbus A330-300 2 2011 2021 [13]
McDonnell Douglas MD-83 3 1996 1999 [15]

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". Edelweiss Air. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2011.
  6. ^ "Edelweiss Air History & Awards". Archived from the original on 5 June 2009.
  7. ^ "Directory: World Airlines". Flight International. 3 April 2007. p. 76.
  8. ^ "Swiss International buys Edelweiss Air" (Press release).
  9. ^ "Edelweiss orders A330".
  10. ^ "Edelweiss Air to add one more A320, three Swiss A340s". ch-aviation. 9 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Edelweiss Switzerland Flugzeuge erhalten neues Design" [Edelweiss Switzerland aircraft get a new design]. ZRH-Spotter (in German). 14 November 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Switzerland's Edelweiss Air ends A330-200 operations". ch-aviation. 27 December 2016.
  13. ^ a b aerotelegraph.com (German) 1 July 2021
  14. ^ "The Edelweiss fleet". Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  15. ^ "Edelweiss Air Fleet of MD80". Airfleets Aviation. Retrieved 24 April 2021.

External links[]

Media related to Edelweiss Air at Wikimedia Commons

Retrieved from ""