NEWS FLASH
Swiss International Air Lines is further increasing services between Zurich and Ljubljana this coming winter season. The carrier now plans to maintain nine weekly flights between the two cities, up from seven this summer, with two daily rotations on Mondays and Fridays. Flights to the Slovenian capital will be maintained on behalf of Swiss by Helvetic Airways’ 112-seat Embraer 190 jet and Air Baltic's 145-seat Airbus A220 aircraft. The additional frequencies will commence from October 30. Swiss handled 22.035 passengers on the route during the first half of the year.
Why is AirBaltic operating the route?
ReplyDeleteLjubljana seems like it's improving
I think they leased some of their numerous A220 this summer.
DeleteBecause they're wet leasing to Swiss
DeleteThe airbaltic wet lease is from winter.
Deletewe might see ljubljana-zurich double daily next summer?
DeleteCould be even before that
DeleteI am not surprised. I flew the ZRH-LJU route earlier in August on their Embraer 195 E2. The plane was full to the last seat. I was assigned the seat 34C. At first, I thought it was some kind of a mistake because when i checked online, the seat map was showing only 28 rows. Once onboard, I was shocked how big this aircraft type is. It had one more row of seats behind me (total of 35), so I am assuming the total number of seats is somewhere about 140 and it was all economy. The interior of the aircraft was pretty nice and the seat was comfortable enough for the short flight. However, the flight itself, especially the descend over the Alps was terrifying. The sudden drops and turns the pilot was making on her approach to LJU made me nauseous. It felt like the airplane was going to smash into one of those mountains. Not sure if it was the pilot, the type of airplane we were flying or the weather (it looked nice and clear for the most part). I have taken many flights to LJU before (mostly on Adria) and they were always relatively smooth. On our way back, we took LH flight to FRA on A319 and I barely noticed when we took-off / landed.
ReplyDeleteThe 195-E2 has 134 seats
DeleteWeather (also for flying) is getting annoying. Alps and Adriatic (Balkan) can be bumpy frequently.
DeleteAir Baltic's 145-seat configurations are actually getting fewer and fewer, so I wonder if they will fly much for Swiss with just 145 seats this winter. As they are rebuilding existing cabins and receiving more new aircraft deliveries, the 148 and 149 seat configurations are taking over more and more.
ReplyDelete(Swiss's own A223 are configured with 145 seats, though.)
Does that mean that the LH Groupe has ambitions growing further more in LJU?
ReplyDeleteNo, its just temporarily and it has only one goal. To kill the idea of a national carrier.
DeleteSince the idea of a national carrier keeps re-appearing (it's like a vicious circle), it will take some time before they reach that goal. In the meantime, they will have to keep growing and growing and growing ... :D
DeleteCurrent OAG schedule shows that LX 2278 on Mondays will be operated from 30OCT-02JAN with an Airbus A320NEO aircraft. 3 departure days with A220-300, Friday with A220-100 and days 1,4,5,7 with the new Embraer 190 e2.
ReplyDeleteWe will see what the reality brings. Huge issues with 220 could lead to change equipment.
ReplyDelete