AeroResCon2023: SWISS claims that higher productivity contributed to its first-half profit.

Swiss International Air Lines reported today that the first half of 2022 saw a return to profitability. The airline is sure that its 2022 full-year statistics will show a profit after operating profit of CHF 67 million ($70 million) in the first half.

SWISS International Air Lines (SWISS) is a member of Star Alliance, the largest airline alliance in the world, and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. It runs to around 123 destinations throughout 51 nations, offering services along more than 140 routes. Zurich Kloten Airport (ZRH) is the primary hub for SWISS, which, according to ch-aviation.com, has a fleet of 105 aircraft, including 15 wet-leased Embraer ERJ 190s. The fleet consists entirely of Airbus aircraft, including five A340-300s that are 19 years old, in addition to 12 Boeing B777-300ERs. Thirty Airbus A220s, thirteen A320s, six A320neos, eight A321s, two A321neos, and fourteen A330-300s make up the remaining fleet.

The main causes of the turnaround were an increase in passenger demand and reservations. Due to residual COVID effects, the year got off to a poor start, but SWISS reported that during the first quarter, when it carried 1.8 million passengers, bookings started to increase. The trend, though, accelerated in Q2, and by June 30, the airline had transported 5.3 million people, five times as many as it had during the same time period in 2016.

The airline added 137 percent more available seat kilometres to its capacity compared to H1 2021, operating more than 47,000 flights (ASKs). Revenue-passenger-kilometers (RPKs) increased by 422% in comparison to H1 2021, while the passenger load factor increased by 40% to 74%. Markus Binkert, chief financial officer of SWISS, said the company is happy to be back in the black, especially because it is still running at a reduced capacity.

"Over the past few months, the combination of significant unmet travel demand, higher ticket prices, and our improved cost structures has greatly benefited our liquidity condition. This also gave us the opportunity to cancel the Swiss Confederation-guaranteed bank credit arrangement we had in place."

Growth without profitability is a dead end, but SWISS avoided it and generated a profit of CHF 67 million ($70 million) on CHF 1.8 billion ($1.88 billion) in sales. With revenues of CHF 659 million ($689 million) and a loss of CHF 398 million ($416 million), H1 2021 revenues and loss are exceptional in their depth. The tough financial measures or restructuring that SWISS underwent for two years, according to the company, are finally over.

Pay reductions and part-time work were among the measures, but CEO Dieter Vranckx claimed that as a result of the restructuring, Swiss is now on stable financial ground. With this stability, he continued, "we can spend once more in our product, in further enhancing our customer services, and in our personnel, and as a result, we can withdraw the crisis response measures that we had previously agreed upon with our employees in Switzerland."

SWISS stated that booking levels are promising for the remainder of the summer season without providing any firm predictions for the rest of the year. It issues a warning about the risks posed by growing fuel prices, which it predicts will "stay high," as well as those from industry-wide resource shortages and a slowdown in the economy. Despite this, the airline is confident it can look forward to the second half of the year because of its "strong structure and cost foundation." It makes a Swiss watch-like sound as it moves.