Airline and airport executives, staff and special guests gathered Thursday at Dulles International Airport to celebrate the launch of Swiss International Air Lines’ nonstop service between Washington, D.C., and Zurich, Switzerland, on an Airbus A330-300. With its inaugural flight on March 28, Swiss became the 41st airline to serve Dulles travelers.
A ceremonial ribbon-cutting event took place Thursday at Gate B49. The event was streamed on YouTube. A selection of catered snacks provided a taste of Switzerland before the flight boarded. Passengers and event attendees enjoyed Bischofberger cakes, cookies and Lindor chocolate candy before boarding.
Speaking on behalf of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Vice President for Airline Business Development Paul Bobson said, “Swiss announced this route four years ago [before the pandemic], and we are grateful that they came through with the great leadership of their CEO. This new flight will generate over $50 million in local economic impact each year.”
As one of four airline brands of the Lufthansa Group, Swiss’s new D.C. route makes Dulles Airport one of the group’s leading North American gateways.
Speaking on behalf of Swiss International, CEO Dieter Vranckx said, “Adding Washington as a destination to our portfolio, we’re very proud that this strengthening of the relationship between Switzerland and the U.S. is really taking place; and it’s a pleasure for us to stand here today four years after the announcement and to be proud to begin this new route. Our development of an airline doesn’t stop by just adding capacity. We are investing around $5 billion in equipment in new aircraft, new seats, investing in our employees and investing in the customer.”
Swiss International’s new route to Washington is the airline’s eighth U.S. gateway for the carrier. Travelers to Zurich can take advantage of rail service that provides complementary transfers to SBB (Swiss federal railways) trains from the Zurich Airport to Basel or Lugano railway stations in Switzerland.
Flights between Washington and Zurich will operate on the following schedule.
