Helvetic Airways

[alphagolf]

Helvetic Airways launches Bristol-Zurich service

(03/11/11)


New flight links South West with Swiss financial centre
Helvetic Airways has announced it will launch a new route between Bristol and Zurich from 5 December 2011. Flights linking the South West with the Swiss financial centre will operate three times a week. Tickets can be purchased via http://www.helvetic.com and go on sale today (3 November 2011) with return fares from £145.00. Tickets on GDS Systems go on sale within the next few days.

The new service will link businesses across the region to one of Europe’s major financial centres. Zurich is home to the world’s fourth biggest stock exchange and is a centre for banking and insurance, pharmaceuticals, and high technology industries, as well as the world’s largest gold trading market.

Zurich also has much to offer leisure travellers, with a vibrant nightlife and cultural scene coupled with a rich history centred on the medieval old town. The city’s airport also serves renowned ski resorts such as Klosters, Grindelwald and Wengen.

For Swiss passengers, Bristol Airport provides an ideal gateway to the South West countryside made popular in the German-language television adaptation of Rosamunde Pilcher’s novels set in the region.

Helvetic Airways becomes the 12th scheduled airline operating from Bristol Airport. Flights will be operated by a Fokker 100.

Helvetic Airways Viva! Business Class
Besides comfortable seating with its generous seat pitch of 33 inch, the business traveller at Helvetic Airways can also benefit from the following advantages:

Flexibility with regard to fare conditions (semi-flex and full-flex),
Free baggage allowance increased to 30 kg, plus two pieces of hand luggage,
In each 3-seat row the middle seat will be left unoccupied, providing space & comfort
Access to business class lounges,
Priority check-in desk,
Appropriate provision of excellent on-board meals according to flight time.
Timetable (local times)
Bristol - Zurich:

Day Dep. Arr. Dates
Mon dep 10:55 arr 13:45 05/12/2011 - 19/03/2012
Wed, Fri dep 15:10 arr 18:00 07/12/2011 - 23/03/2012

Zurich - Bristol:

Day Dep. Arr. Dates
Mon dep 07:40 arr 08:30 05/12/2011 - 19/03/2012
Wed, Fri dep 11:55 arr 12:45 07/12/2011 - 23/03/2012

Source: Bristol Airport

Looking at the Helvetic website, the flights are the same ones to CWL, so they are operating via BRS inbound and outbound! Seems an odd way of doing things, I could understand if it were via BRS on either the Outbound or Inbound but not both!
Are they trying to increase the load factors on the CWL flights during the winter, or will it mean a decision on whether one or other survives! Interesting times me thinks!

alphagolf

 

[alphagolf]

Interestingly the bit on the Bristol Airport website also says,

Flights commence on 5th December with initially three frequencies a week.

There are already the doom mongers on other forums stating this is the end of the CWL service!

I would see it that its the airline trying to put bums on seats over the lean winter months, then see where they go from there!

Neither CWL or BRS are bookable post March 2012, so who knows! Such negativity isn't going to help either airport or the airline itself!

Lets be a bit upbeat for a change!!!!

alphagolf

 

[Aviador]

Welcome back once again Planenut321 it's good to see you here again.

I would love them to be able to stay at both airports Zurich is a fantastic destination to have for both business and leisure. I do share your sentiments about the future of the route from Cardiff if they can make it work from Bristol. If Cardiff still struggles to perform I can't see them staying there beyond the winter season.

Both Bristol and Cardiff punters need to get behind the route now and use it to make it work. There's no guarantee Bristol will fair any better when it comes to filling the flights. Fingers crossed it works for both Cardiff and Bristol airports.

From a Leeds perspective, I'm watching this very closely because if it will work from Bristol (or Cardiff) it should work from Leeds too.

 

[big g]

Great news for BRS but I see this as test to see if the market demand is stronger and then stop the CWL route? I dont get why they will be operating via BRS twice, why not CWL-BRS-ZRH-CWL like has been said it will cut down on a rotation.

It also makes me wonder if Blue Island step up and start advertising their route to ZRH via JER?

Looks like they will be handled by Servisair do we know who looks after them in CWL?

 

[Aviador]

Great news for BRS but I see this as test to see if the market demand is stronger and then stop the CWL route? I dont get why they will be operating via BRS twice, why not CWL-BRS-ZRH-CWL like has been said it will cut down on a rotation.

It also makes me wonder if Blue Island step up and start advertising their route to ZRH via JER?

Looks like they will be handled by Servisair do we know who looks after them in CWL?

Didn't Servisair pull their base at CWL? I think it's just Aviance left at Cardiff but I could be wrong.

They must be calling at Bristol twice so to a Bristol passenger the flight will appear non-stop.

As for Blue Island, they're missing a trick if they're not already advertising the route via Jersey.

 

[Seasider]

I can't understand why they have introduced this as it will kill Cardiff. I would imagine that for the majority of passengers who use the route will find it quicker to travel to Bristol then it would be to travel to Cardiff and then fly to Bristol.

 

[big g]

Didn't Servisair pull their base at CWL? I think it's just Aviance left at Cardiff but I could be wrong.

They must be calling at Bristol twice so to a Bristol passenger the flight will appear non-stop.

As for Blue Island, they're missing a trick if they're not already advertising the route via Jersey.

I'm not to familiar with CWL but didn't Servisair buy Aviance Ground handling in the UK?

Makes sense for them to do BRS twice as you say will offer a direct flight, but could this be due to CWL struggling?

 

[Aviador]

Didn't Servisair pull their base at CWL? I think it's just Aviance left at Cardiff but I could be wrong.

They must be calling at Bristol twice so to a Bristol passenger the flight will appear non-stop.

As for Blue Island, they're missing a trick if they're not already advertising the route via Jersey.

I'm not to familiar with CWL but didn't Servisair buy Aviance Ground handling in the UK?

Makes sense for them to do BRS twice as you say will offer a direct flight, but could this be due to CWL struggling?

I'm not sure. I seem to remember at the time when Aviance pulled LBA servisair pulling CWL. I could be wrong, perhaps Servisair did eventually takeover Aviance.

 

[Aviador]

There's a plug for the new Helvetic Airways service that's to start next month flying between Bristol and Zurich in the Swindon Business News.

"Helvetic business travellers can book semi-flex and full-flex fares, there is a free baggage allowance of 30 kg plus two pieces of hand luggage. In addition, the middle seat in each three-seat row will be left unoccupied. There is also access to business class lounges and a priority check-in desk."

Read more: http://swindon-business.net/index.php/2 ... ext-month/

I've never heard of airlines leaving the middle seat in every three-seat row empty before.

 

[Seasider]

Some airlines do it in their business section on an aircraft that has the same pitch through the cabin. Gives them the flexibility to give more room (sideways) in part of the plane but can go to full economy at other times.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Sorry to come to this topic late but I've been away.

The loads between Cardiff and Zurich were dreadful in terms of numbers though it was reported that the number of Switzerland-emanating passengers was not bad at all - it was the Wales end that was letting the side down.

I wonder whether Bristol will generate any more passengers overall than the service to CWL did. The route is being started in the depths of winter, with a double-dip recession being talked of, by an airline unknown in the West Country. Some might use it to get to new ski destinations - BRS punches well, well above its weight in this market - and Zurich would enable new ski slopes to be reached more easily.

When the Bristol-Zurich route was operated by the BA franchisees until 2007 the daily 50-seat ERJ 145s typically carried loads ranging from 20 to 40 depending on time of year. This sort of percentage load factor on the 100-seat F 100 would be very satisfactory though as raw passenger numbers the situation would be no better than those to/from CWL, albeit the two added together would improve things but enough to justify the cost of a double drop?

Incidentally, the BRS-ZRH wasn't axed because of its performance. It was a victim of a curious (to many) decision by Flybe to axe nearly all the former BAConnect routes from BRS when it acquired the company. It was at a time when there was a barely concealed major rift between BRS and Flybe, something that subsequently appears to have been healed.

I hope my pessimism is unfounded and that the route goes from strngth to strength - to both BRS and CWL.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Zurich-Bristol-Cardiff

Not looking promising for the summer.

All Helvetic routes from Zurich now bookable on their website except this one.

Seems the additional stop inserted both ways at Bristol from 5 December may not have been enough to secure the route.

 

[conns757]

Local - cant say what is going to happen but dont rely on what 2L website shows at this time.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

All noted. Will have to wait and see then.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

I wonder whether Bristol will generate any more passengers overall than the service to CWL did. The route is being started in the depths of winter, with a double-dip recession being talked of, by an airline unknown in the West Country.

Unfortunately, my post of 28 November seems to have been on the right lines.

In December just 343 passengers used the Bristol-Zurich section - 372 used the Cardiff-Zurich section though there was an extra rotation on that because BRS-ZRH didn't start till 5 December.

Not pretty reading.

 

[conns757]

28 v 4 2l

Today

 

[TheLocalYokel]

28 v 4 2l

Today

That's good going for January!

On that basis, if it was to operate through the summer the loads might well become very good.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Summer 2012

Helvetic announced to day that it will operate the Zurich route in summer 2012 as part of its CWL-ZRH service, stopping at BRS in both directions as it's currently doing this winter.

There will be three weekly rotations and the route will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays leaving Zurich late morning and arriving back at teatime.

It's reported on another forum that 15 Viva! Business Class seats will be offered on each flight, reducing the overall seating capacity to 85. Furthermore, it's also being reported that the allocation of the 85 seats will be 50 for BRS and 35 for CWL.

It's good news for both sides of the Severn estuary and this initiative deserves to succeed.

 

[Aviador]

Reducing the frequency to three a week would seem the sensible thing to do. It's great news to see the Helvetic route to Bristol and Cardiff continuing. Let's hope they can build on the passenger numbers they're already achieving to ensure the long term success of the service.

 

[Seasider]

I thought it had been 3 flights per week from the beginning?