ZURICH: May 24, 2017. Edelweiss, the leisure travel subsidiary of Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), has acquired a second A340-300 from its parent to begin long haul services to San Diego twice a week from June 09.

Together with its first A340, the airline has already begun flights to Tampa and Cancun plus San José, Costa Rica twice a week with capacity for nine tonnes of airfreight per flight marketed by Swiss WorldCargo.

Two more A340s from SWISS will be added to the Edelweiss fleet later this year to bring the airline's long-haul capacity to six with the inclusion of two A330s.

SWISS, including Edelweiss, reported a 67 percent increase in Q1 EBIT of CH37 million on income of CH1.09 billion – up two percent year-on-year.

The airline attributed the positive earnings to efficiency gains from its fleet renewal, together with higher revenues from passenger numbers and cargo volumes. The addition of B777-300 capacity during the period enabled SWISS to transfer the A340s to Edelweiss.

"SWISS has taken off very well into the new year despite the fact that the first quarter is a traditionally weaker period in business terms," said CEO Thomas Klühr. "We are well aware, though, that with the tough competition we face in our markets we cannot ease up in our efforts. So we will continue to invest intensively in our premium product throughout the months ahead, both in the air and on the ground."