SWISS posts CHF 3 million operating result for the first-quarter period - Get updated on what's happening in tourism!

The decline from the prior-year period is primarily due to the fact that Easter, a traditionally busy time in air travel terms, fell in the second quarter this year. First-quarter earnings were also reduced by rising costs, but were simultaneously buoyed by strong cargo business and lower year-on-year fuel price levels. SWISS is now making extensive preparations for the summer peak travel season, with a consistent focus on schedule stability and customer satisfaction.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) achieved adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of CHF 3 million for the first three months of 2025, a seasonally weak period in business terms. The result compares to an adjusted EBIT of CHF 31 million for the same period last year. Total first-quarter revenues amounted to CHF 1.22 billion, a two-per-cent increase on the prior-year period (Q1 2024: CHF 1.19 billion).

“Our first-quarter earnings were in line with our expectations,” says SWISS Chief Financial Officer Dennis Weber. “The decline from their prior-year level is attributable largely to calendar factors. Easter, with its high travel demand, fell in the first quarter last year. But the 2025 long Easter weekend fell in April, so all this travel volume was recorded in the second quarter instead. And this has a tangible effect on the corresponding quarterly results.”

Demand remained strong in the first-quarter period, though an expanded flight program lowered average seat load factors. Rising costs further eroded earnings for the period, with personnel expense above its prior-year levels following new recruitments and salary increases. Charges and fees also saw disproportionately high rises that outpaced capacity growth, particularly in the air navigation services field. On a positive note, earnings were buoyed by strong cargo business and fuel prices that were below their prior-year levels.

SWISS’s full-year financial performance for 2025 will depend primarily on results from the seasonally stronger quarters that now lie ahead. “We expect to see favorable business trends over the next few months,” CFO Weber maintains. “Our second-quarter earnings will be substantially above their first-quarter levels. But the risks have clearly risen, too. The economic impact of the present tariff conflicts – especially on demand – is impossible to quantify yet. Based on current booking trends, we expect our US business to remain solid in the months ahead, though with further political and economic developments almost impossible to predict, we also see sizeable uncertainties here. In response, we will need to be both flexible and forward-looking, to exploit opportunities and react promptly and effectively to all possible market developments.”

Passenger volumes at prior-year levels; load factors slightly down

SWISS transported some 3.7 million passengers in the first three months of 2025, broadly the same volume as it had last year (Q1 2024: 3.7 million passengers). Just under 32,000 flights were operated in the period, a three-per-cent increase on a year ago. Total first-quarter capacity was raised 6.4 per cent in available seat-kilometer terms, while total traffic volume in revenue passenger-kilometers was 3.0 per cent up on its prior-year level. Systemwide seat load factor for the period amounted to 78.1 per cent, down 2.6 percentage points from 2024.

SWISS raised its first-quarter performance in 2025 in both punctuality and schedule stability terms. Some 79 per cent of all flights departed on time (i.e. within 15 minutes of their scheduled time of departure), a tangible improvement of almost four percentage points on the first three months of 2024. As a result, the company remains on course to post a 70-per-cent on-time performance for this year as a whole. SWISS also achieved a schedule stability of a solid 98 per cent for the first-quarter period, with particular success in minimizing short-notice schedule changes.

Focus on reliable summer operations and investing in the travel experience

SWISS is now making extensive preparations for the coming summer peak travel season, with a particular emphasis on system stability, punctuality and customer satisfaction.

“We aim to stand out through our stability and our reliability this year, too,” CEO Jens Fehlinger confirms. “Our dependability is especially important in the summer season, when we have so many people traveling with us to and from their vacations. That’s why we’ve been focusing our energies for months now on investing extensively in our operational stability and in our guests’ air travel experience. And the trend here is clearly pointing in the right direction.”

SWISS invests some CHF 1 billion a year in tangibly further enhancing the travel experience for its customers. Recent developments include innovations in all seating classes, in areas such as cabin interiors and inflight service concepts. Another milestone here will be reached in the second half of this year with the delivery and service entry of SWISS’s first Airbus A350-900, complete with the new SWISS Senses cabin concept, which will set further new benchmarks in comfort, quality and innovation terms.

Picture Credit: @ SWISS