For five years, Edelweiss has been committed to ensuring that children far from beautiful Switzerland have a future, even if they don't have the best of luck. It enables children in Sri Lanka, South Africa, or Vietnam to attend kindergarten or school. And it ensures that the children receive a warm meal or even a new home. Edelweiss has been doing this for five years together with help alliance, the aid organization of the Lufthansa Group, and its employees.

In honor of these five years, the Edelweiss Airbus A320, registered HB-JLT, is sporting a unique help alliance livery featuring countless hands. It is the first aircraft of a Lufthansa Group airline to fly with this dedicated livery.

HB-JLT named "Madrisa"
True to the motto "Where Edelweiss is at home," Bernd Bauer, CEO of Edelweiss, Andrea Pernkopf, Managing Director of help alliance, and Veit de Maddalena, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Klosters-Madrisa Bergbahnen AG, ceremoniously christened the HB-JLT Madrisa on Wednesday afternoon, September 14. Klosters-Madrisa is one of the regions where the queen of alpine flowers is native.

Fundraising campaign launched
Andrea Pernkopf, Managing Director of help alliance, was particularly pleased about this christening. At the same time, she also launched a fundraising campaign for help alliance. "It's incredibly impressive how much can be achieved with relatively little money," said Andrea Pernkopf. "For CHF 100, for example, a trainer in Vietnam can visit a school to specifically support the development of children with autism. For CHF 500, around 200 children in South Africa can receive lunch and drinks. And for CHF 1,000, a playground at a preschool in Sri Lanka can be equipped with new play equipment."

Andrea Pernkopf continued: "Every franc goes directly to the projects. Together with competent local partners, we take responsibility for ensuring that the project work has a positive impact on the beneficiaries and contributes to sustainable development."

Information about help alliance
help alliance is the aid organization of the Lufthansa Group and its employees. This non-profit limited liability company currently brings together more than 50 projects worldwide under its umbrella. These projects are primarily designed to provide young people with access to education and empower them to lead self-determined lives. In addition to its focus on education, help alliance promotes entrepreneurship. In recent years, it has supported around 150 projects. All project content is aligned with the strict standards of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and, in particular, the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of "Quality Education" (SDG 4) and "Decent Work and Economic Growth" (SDG 8). The projects are financed exclusively through donations.

Information about Madrisa
The Madrisa is a mountain region near Klosters, featuring the Madrisahorn at 2,826 m above sea level and a sunny plateau at 1,887 m with stunning panoramic views (220°) of the Alpine landscape. Here are the main attractions, the Madrisa-Hof and the Madrisa-Alp restaurant, both offering a diverse range of dining and event options, as well as Madrisa-Land (play facilities for children and families) and an extensive skiing and hiking infrastructure. This gourmet mountain in Davos Klosters welcomes its guests with great warmth and high-quality cuisine. The modern adventure infrastructure in a family atmosphere offers unforgettable moments for all generations in both summer and winter.

Links to pictures and further information
Collaboration between Edelweiss and help alliance

Website of Klosters-Madrisa Bergbahnen AG

Website of help alliance

The newest addition to the Edelweiss fleet features an unusual design. The familiar red nose and the red background on the tail fin have been replaced by countless red hands. They symbolize the helping hands of the Lufthansa Group aid organization help alliance and Edelweiss. The two organizations have maintained a close partnership for five years: "Help alliance and Edelweiss have jointly supported social projects at Edelweiss holiday destinations. Through our joint commitment, we have been able to provide a better life for young people in Costa Rica, Vietnam, South Africa, and Sri Lanka in particular through various projects in recent years," says Bernd Bauer, CEO of Edelweiss.

The Edelweiss Airbus A320 HB-JLT is the first aircraft from a Lufthansa Group airline to fly with a dedicated livery in conjunction with the help alliance. "The aircraft is intended to draw attention to our global social commitment and contribute to raising the profile of our non-profit organization. The future of young people living in poverty is our most important goal," says Andrea Pernkopf, Managing Director of the help alliance.

HB-JLT is christened "Madrisa"
For six years, Switzerland's leading leisure airline has been naming its aircraft after regions where the queen of alpine flowers is native, in keeping with the motto "Where Edelweiss is at home." The aircraft, christened "Madrisa," is already the third aircraft to be named after a region in the canton of Graubünden.

Roger Kunz, Delegate of the Board of Directors of Klosters-Madrisa Bergbahnen AG, is delighted that his region is being promoted to the world: "We have a wonderful habitat for the alpine flower, the edelweiss, and we also offer our guests relaxation, a unique experience, and warm hospitality. This makes the collaboration a perfect fit." The official christening of the HB-JLT will take place at a later date.

The aircraft will now fly to all Edelweiss short- and medium-haul holiday destinations. Another aircraft of the same type will join Edelweiss in the coming days; this one will, however, feature the usual livery. Edelweiss now has 12 Airbus A320s in its fleet.

Information about help alliance
help alliance is the aid organization of the Lufthansa Group. This non-profit limited liability company currently brings together more than 50 projects worldwide under its umbrella. These projects are primarily designed to provide young people with access to education and empower them to lead independent lives. In addition to its focus on education, help alliance promotes entrepreneurship. In recent years, it has supported around 150 projects. All project content is aligned with the strict standards of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and, in particular, the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of "Quality Education" (SDG 4) and "Decent Work and Economic Growth" (SDG 8). The projects are financed exclusively through donations.

Information about Madrisa
The Madrisa is a mountain region near Klosters, featuring the Madrisahorn at 2,826 m above sea level and a sunny plateau at 1,887 m with stunning panoramic views (220°) of the Alpine landscape. Here, the main attractions are the Madrisa-Hof and the Madrisa-Alp restaurant, both offering a diverse range of dining and event options, as well as Madrisa-Land (play facilities for children and families) and extensive skiing and hiking facilities.

The gourmet mountain in Davos Klosters welcomes its guests with great warmth and high-quality cuisine. The modern adventure infrastructure in a family-friendly atmosphere offers unforgettable experiences for all generations, both summer and winter.

Links
Information about the cooperation between Edelweiss and help alliance

Klosters-Madrisa Mountain Railways AG

help alliance

Edelweiss, Switzerland's leading leisure airline, is the first airline in Switzerland to integrate voluntary CO2 offsetting into its website's booking process. Effective immediately, Edelweiss guests can quickly and easily pay for their CO2 offsetting along with their ticket price.

In collaboration with the Swiss foundation myclimate, Edelweiss now offers its guests the opportunity to offset their flights during the booking process on the Edelweiss website. When a guest books a flight on flyedelweiss.com, myclimate calculates the resulting CO2 emissions and the amount required for CO2 offsetting during the booking process. The guest can voluntarily offset this amount with a single click. The offset amount is then paid along with the ticket price. This amount supports projects that reduce the resulting CO2 emissions by the same amount. All offset payments to myclimate are tax-deductible in Switzerland.

Innovation promotes passenger awareness
This new and innovative feature makes offsetting flights easier and raises awareness among Edelweiss customers about the possibility of carbon offsetting. Bernd Bauer, CEO of Edelweiss, said: "We do a lot to minimize the impact of our activities on the environment. For example, Edelweiss fully offsets the CO2 emissions generated by business travel. With our latest innovation, we also want to raise awareness of this important topic among our guests and make the step toward carbon offsetting as easy as possible for them."

Stephen Neff, CEO of myclimate: "The fact that Edelweiss is the first airline with us to offer carbon offsetting directly in the booking process is a breakthrough for more effective climate protection worldwide. The many interested and sensitized customers now have a simple way to take responsibility for their carbon emissions."

Support for climate protection projects
With the offsetting contributions from Edelweiss guests, myclimate supports climate protection projects in developing and emerging countries, as well as in Switzerland. These projects meet the highest quality standards and contribute to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. In addition to reducing CO2 emissions, all myclimate projects also contribute to social, ecological, and economic development in the respective regions.

Edelweiss has been flying directly to San José since May 2017. The leading Swiss leisure airline is keen to acknowledge that poverty is a part of everyday life in Costa Rica—as in other beautiful holiday destinations. For Edelweiss, social responsibility doesn't stop at the Swiss border. For example, 23 employees, together with CEO Bernd Bauer, donated a house to a family in a poor neighborhood of San José—built with their own hands.

Social responsibility – two big words, especially for an airline that flies its guests to beautiful destinations all over the world. Destinations where poverty is sometimes a bitter reality. For Edelweiss, practicing corporate social responsibility means not just turning a blind eye to this reality – but actively getting involved to make a difference.

A home for a family
A delegation from Edelweiss traveled to San José to provide concrete assistance: The holiday airline's employees built a house for a family in a poor neighborhood for the "Homes of Hope" project.

In two days, the team of three Edelweiss pilots, nine flight attendants, and 12 office staff transformed 35 plasterboards, 120 brick panels, 1,000 nails, and 200 screws into a new home. CEO Bernd Bauer was at the forefront of the project. "We didn't just build a house here, we gave a family a future," said Bauer. "And, along the way, strengthened our own team spirit."

Their new home can help break the cycle of poverty for the affected family. Edelweiss is proud and happy to have contributed to this hope.

Breaking the cycle of poverty
Edelweiss is committed to the project as part of "help alliance," the Lufthansa Group's aid organization. Money is also being collected on board its aircraft—for example, "leftover" coins in foreign currencies. But simply collecting money isn't enough for the leading Swiss leisure airline. It's because it's aware of its responsibility. And because corporate social responsibility doesn't stop at the Swiss border.