Edelweiss Zeppelin says goodbye

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Edelweiss airline, the Edelweiss Zeppelin toured many locations this summer. On May 18, the airship took off for the first time from Mönchaltorf near Zurich. The first of over 400 flights also marked the start of a unique tour through German-speaking Switzerland. Over 4,800 passengers had the unique pleasure of experiencing their Switzerland from a completely new perspective.

The Edelweiss Zeppelin took off from a total of six locations for sightseeing flights over Swiss lakes and countryside. The over 75-meter-long Zeppelin delighted passengers in the air as well as passersby on the ground. The size of the airship and its lightness caused great amazement and joyful faces in many places. Over 4,800 passengers had the pleasure of marveling at the diversity of Switzerland from above in the Edelweiss Zeppelin. The airship was in flight for a total of around 285 hours and completed over 400 flights. The interest was enormous. All flights were already fully booked by January.

Bernd Bauer, CEO of Edelweiss, reflects on a successful campaign: "We received numerous positive reactions in the form of compliments, children's drawings, emails, and we were able to admire wonderful pictures on various social media channels under #flyedelweiss. Edelweiss and all its employees are delighted that we were able to bring joy to the people of this country with this gift."

Fleet expansion and route densification
Edelweiss has more news in store for its anniversary year. Over the next two years, the airline will expand its fleet with a total of five medium- and long-haul aircraft. With an Airbus A320, an A330, and three A340s, the fleet will grow to a total of twelve aircraft by 2018. The airline will also create over 350 new jobs in the coming years. This expansion represents significant growth for Edelweiss and will allow it to serve existing routes more frequently and new, emerging holiday markets non-stop. Edelweiss will add Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Calgary (Canada) to its route network starting in spring 2016.