Bristol Airport has launched a new route between the city and Zurich. The inaugural flight of Swiss International Air Lines took off on Saturday (February 4) and the airline has already announced it will increase flight frequency from spring.
The service will link business travel with one of the world’s leading financial centres as well as opening up the international hub for more long-haul destinations. It will also build the tourism market for Bristol and the South West region, according to Visit West’s managing director, Kathryn Davis.
She said that in 2019 there were more than 38,000 visits from Swiss tourists to Bristol, over half of which were holiday visits. She added: “This new route provides a huge opportunity to further develop and rebuild our inbound European visitor market... Pre-pandemic, Switzerland was one of the region’s larger inbound markets and Bristol one of the most popular UK cities with Swiss visitors.”
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Northern Europe sales senior director at Lufthansa Group Airlines, Heinrich Lange said the timetable has been designed to ensure customers arrive at a convenient time to arrive in the Swiss Alps. He said: “From April onwards we are increasing our frequency and as of June, we will operate three weekly flights Bristol-Zurich. Our new Bristol service offers convenient schedules between Bristol and Switzerland’s financial centre and an easy access to our global network of over 110 destinations.”
Bristol Airport’s head of airline relations, Shaune Browne, said the decision to launch the new route “shows confidence in the region.” He said: “The regular scheduled service between Bristol and Switzerland opens up a wide range of European and worldwide connections to our customers.
“Zurich is a great city whether for business or leisure and the link between the cities allows us to promote the South West and Wales region to inbound visitors from Switzerland and beyond. We see great potential for this service and are delighted SWISS have already confirmed they will be increasing the frequency to three flights a week in the summer,” he said.
Zurich is renowned for its world-class attractions with its blend of medieval and gothic in the Old Town, with a range of cultural activities such as the Zurich Opera House.
A search of SkyScanner shows that some dates in the next few months are priced at just over £130 return - such as flying out on Saturday, February 18 and back on the following Saturday, February 25. For a long weekend there are flights out on Friday, April 21 and back on Monday April 24 for a similar price.
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