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Helvetic Airways
Regional airline of Switzerland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Helvetic Airways, previously named Odette Airways, is a Swiss regional airline headquartered in Kloten with its fleet stationed at Zurich Airport.[4] It operates flights to destinations in Europe and Northern Africa, mainly leisure markets, on its own behalf,[5] as well as scheduled flights on behalf of Swiss International Air Lines and Lufthansa,[6] using their fleet of Embraer 190s and Embraer 190-E2s.
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History
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Helvetic Airways was established in the autumn of 2003, as a rebranding and extension of the existing airline Odette Airways, to serve destinations in South-Eastern Europe. Switzerland's first budget carrier began operating in November, with a Fokker 100 flying to three destinations. By 2004, the fleet had grown to seven aircraft.
In December 2006, the carrier unveiled a new look for its aircraft. Since then, all the Fokker 100s have livery in red-white-silver grey colours, with the Swiss cross on the tailfin.
In October 2010, the Swiss news media announced a new base in Bern Airport.[7]
On 18 February 2013, in the 2013 Belgian diamond heist, eight men armed with automatic weapons and dressed in police uniforms seized 120 small parcels, containing an estimated $50 million (£32,000,000) worth of diamonds from a Helvetic Airways Fokker 100 passenger plane, loaded with passengers preparing for departure to Zürich. The men drove two vehicles through a hole they had cut in the airport's perimeter fence to Flight LX789, which had just been loaded with diamonds from a Brink's armoured van. The men were able to execute the operation within five minutes with no injuries and without firing a shot.[8]
In December 2014,[9] Helvetic Airways began to take over seven Embraer 190s, which were freed by Niki changing their fleet.[10]
Since March 2016, there is a wet-lease contract with Lufthansa for the Zürich-Munich route.[11]
In 2018, Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) expanded its partnership with Helvetic Airways, announcing that it will deploy up to eight Helvetic Airways Embraer E190-E2 aircraft or similar equipment on its route network, from 2019 onwards.[12] On 14 June 2019, the last Helvetic Airways Fokker 100 left the fleet. Shortly after, on 29 October 2019, the carrier took delivery of its first Embraer E190-E2 aircraft.[13]
Weathering the COVID-19 pandemic
During a 2022 company conference, Martin Ebner, owner of the airline, discussed how Helvetic decided not to push for a contract with Swiss International Air Lines requiring the latter to pay its wet lease fees while airline fleets were grounded during the COVID-19 pandemic, losing out on millions. In doing so, Ebner argued Helvetic helped ease Swiss' ticket refund burden during the pandemic. Despite this, Swiss subsequently reduced its wet-lease agreement with Helvetic from eight to four aircraft, a move Ebner considered a "breach of contract" that worsened Helvetic's pandemic struggles. Nevertheless, Helvetic Airways refunded travel agencies and all of its affected passengers promptly. They were able to afford this by relying on reduced lease rates payable to parent company, Helvetic Group, and switching to a less costly short-term temporary employment model with less hours of work for its pilots, crew and other employees (entailing less compensation). Further, unlike Swiss, the company did not receive government aid and had secured financing for its new Embraer jets using its own funds (themselves secured by Ebner's own assets), ultimately weathering the crisis.[14]
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Ownership
Helvetic Airways is fully owned by Swiss businessman Martin Ebner.[15]
Destinations
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Scheduled destinations as of January 2024 (not included are the routes served for Swiss International Air Lines on a long-term wet-lease contract):[16]
Codeshare agreements
Interline agreements
- Hahn Air[21]
Fleet
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Current fleet
As of January 2025[update], Helvetic Airways operates an all-Embraer fleet composed of the following aircraft:[22]
Historic fleet
In the past, Helvetic Airways has operated the following types of aircraft:
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References
External links
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