Swiss

[Severn]

SWISS - New flights to BRS announced

Swiss has announced plans to launch flights from Zurich to Bristol as part of its winter 2022/23 schedule.
The direct service will be served once weekly from February 4, 2023. The route will be operated with A220 and E190 aircraft from partner Helvetic Airways.

The airline says that the route should “prove especially popular among winter sports enthusiasts” in the UK.

 

[Marko1]

Swiss operating through the summer now as well.

 

[BRSregular]

2 days per week too (Fri and Mon) which makes it much more attractive, although checking a couple of weekend trips next May comes in at over £330 return!

 

[BRSflyer]

Hopefully the route matures and goes year round!

 

[Severn]

Great news.
Looks like the flights are scheduled be operated for Swiss by Helvetic Airways on E190-E2 aircraft with up to 110 seats in a 2x2 config.

Mondays & Fridays
ZRH (17:10) - BRS (18:10)
BRS (18:50) - ZRH (21:40)

 

[BRSflyer]

Is the flight now year round or just extended into/until the end of the summer timetable? Sean M on Twitter seems to think year round but can't see any evidence of that yet.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1582316934494048257

 

[A400]

The flights might not be on sale at the minute. Patience is required.

 

[BRSflyer]

ZRH route x3 weekly (additional Weds frequency) from June onwards.

 

[Severn]

SWISS @ BRS
Swiss starts BRS-ZRH next week (Sat 4th Feb 2023).
The route will operate year round, schedule as follows:

First Flight
Sat 4th Feb 2023 - SWISS A220-100

1x weekly from Sat 11th February 2023
Saturday - SWISS A220-300

2x weekly from Mon 27th March 2023
Monday - Helvetic E190 E2
Friday - Helvetic E190 E2

3x weekly from Mon 5th June 2023 for the rest of the summer season
Monday - Helvetic E190 E2
Wednesday - Helvetic E190 E2
Friday - Helvetic E190 E2

---

1x weekly from Sat 4th November 2023
Saturday - SWISS A220-300

 

[Severn]

Saturday 4th Feb 2023

Today marked the first SWISS flight to ZRH. The flight was operated by an A220-300 (HB-JCR). It arrived 15 mins early and pushed back on time. Would be interested to know what the loads were like and hopefully the forward bookings are strong.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1621905105476878342

 

[Severn]

According to social media posts, the loads over the first couple of flights are promising.
Sat 4th Feb
ZRH - BRS - 26
BRS - ZRH - 145 (full flight)

Sat 11th Feb
ZRH - BRS - 125
BRS - ZRH - 145 (full flight)

 

[Kernow Bravo]

Agreed these LFs are surprisingly good considering the economic climate. Perhaps they will have to continue with the A223 rather than the smaller Helvetic aircraft for the summer schedules, although I suspect the main reason for rostering the Airbus is the extra luggage space for winter sports equipment.

I have just booked a trip to Basel, which is offered with a rail connection from ZRH on the Swiss website. We are returning on LH via FRA - all bookable on the Swiss site...and, unlike EasyJet, refundable fares......

Interestingly, the fare with the rail connection was cheaper than a point to point BRS-ZRH (GBP 30 on the return trip I looked at). There is some flexibility in the rail ticketing element, as the site mentions : "Your train ticket is valid for one day before departure and up to one day after the arrival of your flight.".

More details here for anyone interested:

https://www.swiss.com/gb/en/book-and-manage/partner-offers/swiss-airrail

 

[BRSflyer]

Flew into BRS via ZRH and BRS was advertised on the IFE.


And a shot of the moving map flying into BRS.

 

[BRSflyer]

Flew out of Bristol yesterday to Munich via Zurich on the SWISS flight. Whilst waiting in the check-in queue it was good to overhear some of the places people were connecting to including Johannesburg.

 

[tpm]

Flew out of Bristol yesterday to Munich via Zurich on the SWISS flight. Whilst waiting in the check-in queue it was good to overhear some of the places people were connecting to including Johannesburg.

I wonder how many passengers are connecting.

Was quite surprised to learn that in case of Brussels airlines it was about 90% or so (this was the number for one particular flight, don't know if it matches the general average).

 

[Kernow Bravo]

Yes we connected a few times @ BRU. Typically, connection times were shorter than those offered @ AMS with the added bonus of well stocked chocolate shops airside!

Getting back to SWISS, as mentioned earlier we are also connecting, albeit onto the Swiss/SBB Fly/Rail service.

For the summer season, the M&F outbounds are scheduled to arrive into ZRH at 2140, which potentially restricts the number of same-day connections available. Most connections will require an overnight at ZRH, so it is more likely that connecting pax will route via AMS or FRA instead unless wanting a stopover anyway.

 

[Marko1]

A second weekly flight to Zurich has been added for the winter season - one with Helvetic and one with Swiss (A220-100). Mon and sat

 

[MrFenner]

SeanM on X reporting ZRH will go to summer seasonal only…

 

[Aviador]

SeanM on X reporting ZRH will go to summer seasonal only…

That's frustrating given some of the earlier comments suggesting many people use the flight for onward connections.

 

[Jerry]

Bit disappointing for Bristol.