Oliver Evans

'We have kept on improving our services,' says Oliver Evans, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer and a Member of the Board of Management at Swiss on a visit to Dubai.

'In streamlining our Gulf service we decided to pull out of the Karachi section and that freed up aircraft for more flights to Muscat, and we were also able to improve the timings of flights into and out of Dubai.'

On Gulf flights Swiss offers its traditional three class configuration, and maintains a premium First Class. Why maintain the three classes when many airlines are moving to two?

'First Class is a very limited service but lucrative and one where we can show the highest standards of Swiss service. It is a question of assessing the need on a market-by-market basis, and in the Middle East the demand is definitely there.

'We differentiate ourselves from other airlines by our very standards of cabin service and our First Class remains a consistently high standard for people who appreciate a really personal service.'

Not that traditional standards mean that Swiss is failing to keep up with the latest in Internet technology. Gulf customers also now have the option of e-ticketing which eliminates the need to hold a physical ticket prior to arrival at the airport, allowing flights to be booked entirely online.

'E-ticketing is extremely important for the future. For the airline it removes a cost as the production and administration of paper tickets is very expensive, while at the same time it improves our service to the customer,' explains Mr. Evans who spent 13 years with KLM before joining Swiss in December 2002.

'Swiss has now emerged from several difficult years and turned profitable in the third quarter of 2004. There has been a massive restructuring of the company and network with measures taken to secure and stabilize existing operations.'

Mr. Evans concedes that a move to join the British Airways' alliance in October 2003 was hastily abandoned, but argues that the bilateral arrangements now in place with partners such as American Airlines offer a much better network for Swiss passengers.

Indeed, Zurich remains an excellent hub airport and a new lounge and shopping facilities have recently been opened for the use of First and Business Class passengers. Transit times at Zurich are the fastest in Europe with typical Swiss precision and efficiency.

Meanwhile, the Swiss franc has not appreciated against the US dollar to anything like the same extent as the euro, and thus visiting Switzerland is much less expensive than it used to be in the past. 'Many of our Arab guests are pleasantly surprised by the exchange rate,' says Mr. Evans.

'Swiss passenger load factors are now ahead of IAA averages on long haul flights, and so are Swiss yields, and we see this continuing to improve in 2005,' he adds. It seems the Swiss commitment to the highest standards is also beginning to make commercial sense.