London City welcomes restart of SWISS’ popular Zurich route

The service has begun operating twice-weekly flights with plans to add more once demand increases

London City Airport (LCY) has welcomed the restart of connections to Zurich, operated by Switzerland’s flag carrier, SWISS.

Initially, the airline will operate two rotations per week to the city – beginning yesterday (May 13) – with plans to increase the number of flights in line with rising demand.

International travel to and from the UK can resume from May 17, with the introduction of the traffic light system that determines which destinations require quarantine and testing measures.

London City Airport
Photo London City Airport 

“Zurich is a key centre for international business, finance and tourism, so this is very positive news for our passengers who can once again enjoy safe and speedy journeys to Zurich direct from the heart of London,” said Anne Doyere, LCY’s head of aviation.

The airline plans to gradually build up its routes and schedules from the airport ahead of autumn when traffic is predicted to pick up. It also is set to restore its Geneva service from the London hub in August of this year.

Tamur Goudarzi Pour, chief commercial officer at SWISS, added: “We are very pleased to resume connections from Zurich and Geneva to London City. Its proximity to the city centre and its convenient size with short distances make London City Airport equally attractive for our business and leisure travellers.”

Switzerland is currently placed in the amber category, meaning passengers from the UK need to take a pre-departure test followed by the PCR on days two and eight upon returning. Travellers will also have to isolate for ten days.

With the continuation of the vaccination programme across Europe, it is hoped that the review of restrictions taking place in three weeks will allow Switzerland to move into the green group. This could potentially mean that quarantine free travel could be introduced between the two countries next month.

Passengers are able to book Covid-19 tests for UK and international travel at LCY’s testing facility. A new portal was also launched that provides customers with the relevant coronavirus information needed for flying.

Demand for travel appears to be growing, as a survey conducted on behalf of the hub found that 72% of frequent flyers wish to begin taking flights again when permitted.

In 2019, Zurich was the airport’s fourth most popular route, transferring 429,019 passengers between Switzerland’s largest city and England’s capital.