Edelweiss is unusual in that it remains an A340-300 operator, a distinct rarity anywhere nowadays. Its only widebody type, it currently has four A340s, which average 19.3 years, according to ch-aviation.com. A fifth example, to be transferred from Swiss, is coming; it'll arrive in time for the all-important summer. As of January 31st, and less than two months until the Edelweiss shifts to summer schedules, this is what the leisure airline plans this summer.
Edelweiss's A340s this summer
All of Edelweiss's flights operate from Zurich. According to the latest Cirium data in late January and subject to change, the leisure airline has 726 A340 departures planned from the Swiss city this summer, which runs from Sunday, March 26th until Saturday, October 28th. There's an average of three A340 departures daily, but it varies to as many as five. Unlike previous summers, no A340 flight is currently planned within Europe this summer.
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North America has almost half of flights
Edelweiss's 726 A340 Zurich departures can be broken down by continent/region as follows. North America has nearly half, which has almost doubled in proportion versus summer 2019. That is because North America flights have grown (+12%) while others have fallen.
For example, Asia service remains down by two-thirds this summer, while Africa (previously Edelweiss' second-biggest summer A340 market) has 57% fewer flights. Central America is impacted too (-34%), and South America is no longer served. In contrast, the Caribbean has grown strongly (+133%). Given this and regional cuts elsewhere, the Caribbean has jumped from the least served in summer 2019 to number two now.
- North America: 342 (!) departures; 47% of the total this summer
- Caribbean: 114; 16%
- Africa: 109; 15%
- Central America: 87; 12%
- Asia: 63; 9%
- Middle East: 11; 1%
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16 countries, 22 airports
This summer, Edelweiss will use its A340s to Canada (including on behalf of SWISS), Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jamaica, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Oman, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, and the US. Most are non-stop, but there are a few one-stop services, as illustrated in the map above, but they vary somewhat by week. Despite 'only' three summer routes (Denver, Las Vegas, Tampa), the US predictably takes the top spot, followed by Costa Rica, Canada, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.
Click here for Zurich-Cancun flights.
To Costa Rica, Edelweiss routes Zurich-San Jose-Zurich (once-weekly) and Zurich-San Jose-Liberia-Zurich (twice-weekly). The San Jose-Liberia hope covers just 100 miles (161km) and takes around 25 minutes, according to Flightradar24.com. Obviously, there are no traffic rights on the domestic leg. Examining Edelweiss schedules reveals that, across the whole summer, San Jose has more Edelweiss A340 flights than any other route.
Click here for Zurich-San Jose flights.
At the other extreme is Egypt. Normally served using A320s, Edelweiss has scheduled five A340 services to Hurghada when the summer heat slowly begins to reduce (September 24th and October 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd).
Up to five daily departures
At the start of the article, I said that Edelweiss has planned up to five daily A340 departures from Zurich this summer. This occurs on just 23 dates, the first of which is July 1st. This coincides with the arrival of the fifth aircraft. On July 1st, they'll leave Switzerland as follows:
- 09:35: WK76, Kilimanjaro and onto Zanzibar
- 12:25: WK24, Cancun
- 13:10: WK10, Vancouver
- 13:20: WK34, Punta Cana
- 20:00: WK66, Male
Click here for Zurich-Vancouver flights.
Are you planning to fly Edelweiss's A340s? If so, let us know in the comments.