19.11.2025
SWISS to expand services from EuroAirport Basel
SWISS is to offer a broader range of services from EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg from the start of the 2005 summer schedules. Valencia and Palma de Mallorca join the Basel-based network; and seasonal flights will also be offered to Corsica, Sardinia and Naples from June to September. Service to London (City) Airport will also be increased.

SWISS is convinced that Basel’s “TriRhena” catchment area (comprising Northwest Switzerland, Alsace and Southwest Baden-Württemberg) holds sizeable business potential, and intends to further develop its current market position. To do so, SWISS will be selectively expanding its present range of services from EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg to offer customers an attractive network that is tailored as closely as possible to their air travel needs. The services will be operated with a fleet of nine Saab 2000 aircraft. The expanded network will come into effect with the new summer schedules at the end of March 2005.

The changes will see SWISS expand its services between Basel and Spain with the addition of two new destinations: Palma de Mallorca, the popular tourist destination, which will receive five weekly services; and Valencia, the venue for the next America’s Cup, which will be served four times a week.

SWISS will also be increasing the range of vacation destinations available to the TriRhena region by offering services to more points in the Mediterranean during the summer months. Ajaccio (Corsica), Olbia (Sardinia) and Naples will all be served from Basel from mid-June to mid-September.

A further expansion sees the key London market receive a fourth daily frequency. All SWISS’s Basel-London flights operate to City Airport, which is conveniently close to the central business district.

“We are convinced that our new expanded network offers an attractive product to the TriRhena region,” says SWISS Vice President TriRhena Stefan Gutknecht. “It should help keep us well anchored in this important tri-national market, with a timetable that is finely tuned to both business and leisure travellers’ needs.”

Concierge services, limousine-transfer direct to the aircraft, an exclusive ambience with gourmet restaurant and personal attention for guests from arrival at the airport right through to take-off are the special features of the service with which Lufthansa makes travel even more comfortable for its First Class guests. In the future, Lufthansa will help its First Class passengers in Frankfurt with the usual procedures when arriving at the airport, from parking the car to check-in, security controls and customs, in order to save time and make their journey more hassle-free.

"The customers should have more time for more important things. First Class guests who spend many days of the month aboard an aircraft and at airports expect to be able to decide for themselves how they spend their time. We would like to create an environment similar to that of a journey by private jet. Top service for top customers. That is our claim for the First Class terminal and the First Class lounges at the airport", declares the Chairman of Lufthansa's Executive Board Wolfgang Mayrhuber.

In the First Class terminal, in an area of around 1,800 square metres, Lufthansa First Class guests can make better use of their time before take-off. A personal assistant is at the passenger's disposal throughout his entire stay. The guest has the choice of how he would like to spend the time until take-off: separate rooms, individual offices complete with telephone, Notebook connection and office materials offer the possibility of working in absolute privacy. The guest can relax in luxuriously-furnished rooms, complete with modern and spacious bathrooms with shower and bathtub, to provide much-needed refreshment before or after a long journey.

On comfortable sofas, armchairs and relaxation chairs guests can make themselves comfortable in the lounge area, watch TV or select from an extensive range of newspapers and magazines. There is also the possibility of watching individual films, listening to music or surfing the Internet using wireless LAN. In the First Class terminal's restaurant, the chefs prepare seasonal dishes before the eyes of the guest.

A separate Cigar Lounge with snacks and drinks is also available for smokers. Guests in the First Class terminal will no longer have to walk to the gate in the future. They will be picked up in good time before take-off and chauffeur-driven in a Mercedes S-Class or Porsche Cayenne directly to the aircraft. "With the First Class terminal and lounges we are offering a new service dimension for our best and most loyal customers - a further sign of Lufthansa's customer orientation", says Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales of Lufthansa German Airlines.

The First Class terminal and the First Class lounges in the airport supplement each other perfectly. The two new First Class lounges at Frankfurt Airport offer transfer passengers many convenient features. Competition is increasingly taking place on the ground. Especially for that reason, within the next few months even greater attention will be paid to improvements in service procedures on the ground. "With the new terminal and lounges we are further extending our top position and our claim to leadership in the premium segment, while other airlines are withdrawing from this segment. Lufthansa is first class - on the ground as well as on board our aircraft. High quality, innovative product ideas and perfect service create added value", says Wolfgang Mayrhuber. "For many of our guests on long-haul flights, Lufthansa means a piece of home. The service willingness and professionalism of our employees makes a major contribution to that."

On 1st December, when the First Class terminal and the First Class lounges are officially opened, the special services will not only be available to First Class customers, but also to members of the new HON Circle status within the Miles & More programme. This status can be achieved by anyone who collects 600,000 HON Circle miles within a period of two calendar years. These are status miles which are collected aboard flights operated by Lufthansa, Lufthansa Regional, Austrian Airlines Group, LOT Polish Airlines, Air Dolomiti, Air One or United Airlines.

In Munich, a similar First Class programme is planned for the beginning of 2006. At airports outside of Europe, HON Circle members must not forego individual services, such as personal assistance upon arrival. Carsten Spohr, Executive Vice President Service and Personnel at Lufthansa German Airlines: "We want to offer our most sophisticated guests, the First Class passengers and HON Circle members, an exclusive travel service on the ground that is unique in the airline business."

The Spanish airline's new and convenient ticketing option is now available on all domestic routes except the walk-on Madrid-Barcelona shuttle, and for flights to and from Germany, Portugal, Italy, the UK, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, France, Denmark, the USA, Puerto Rico, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Brazil, Sweden, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Greece, Ecuador, Uruguay, Turkey and Israel.

The paperless "cyberticket" is a ticket whose flight coupon is an entry in an electronic data base. Customers can book such tickets with a single telephone call at any time of day or night, and change them with another call. Boarding cards are issued when the passenger supplies the ticket order number and personal identification at the airport. Such tickets cannot be lost or stolen.

15.11.2025
Cathay Pacific reintroduces "World Pass” offer to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific Airways today reintroduced its popular World Pass packages that offer Hong Kong travellers multiple trips at special prices to more than 30 cities throughout the region and around the world.

This year’s “Cathay Pacific World Pass” provides the option of either one long-haul and one short-haul or two long-haul and one short-haul flight. Packages are available for travel in both Business and Economy Class and an upgrade from Business to First Class is available for an additional fee.

Long-haul destinations: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Cairns, Auckland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Rome, Johannesburg.

Short-haul destinations: Taipei, Bangkok, Cebu, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Singapore, Denpasar, Jakarta, Surabaya, Colombo, Bahrain, Dubai, Riyadh, Mumbai, Delhi, Karachi.

These special tickets will be on sale between 15 November and 26 November2004 and travel must be completed by 15 July 2005. The same city can be visited more than once. All flights must originate in Hong Kong.