History of Edelweiss

2025 is a special year for Edelweiss: the Swiss holiday airline is celebrating its 30th anniversary. At the same time, a new chapter in the company's history is beginning. Edelweiss is the first Swiss airline to put the Airbus A350 into scheduled service, heralding a new era of long-haul flights. This modern generation of aircraft stands for greater efficiency, sustainability and increased travel comfort. Four Airbus A350s will be added to the fleet over the course of the year and will increasingly shape the long-haul offering. This will be complemented by a targeted expansion of the offering and selected new routes.

Edelweiss is expanding its route network with 13 new destinations.

With its maiden flight on 1 April 2025, Edelweiss becomes the first Swiss airline to put the Airbus A350 into scheduled service. The aircraft livery is redesigned and modernised, while retaining the red nose and Edelweiss flower.

Edelweiss also reaches a new milestone this year: for the first time, more than 3 million passengers travel with the Swiss holiday airline.

Edelweiss is consistently expanding its route network and adding an Airbus A340 to its long-haul fleet, bringing the total to five aircraft. In November, the new Zurich – Bogotá – Cartagena – Zurich route will be launched. This marks Edelweiss's first flight to Colombia.

Products and services are also being expanded: new partnerships with local manufacturers such as Soeder and Confiserie Beschle, as well as classic Swiss soft drinks such as Pepita, Sinalco, Elmer Citro and Rivella, ensure an even higher-quality travel experience on board. In addition, Edelweiss is launching ‘edelweiss experiences’, a monthly series of exclusive experiences ranging from trips to Finland to aircraft christenings and special events.

After a two-year hiatus, Edelweiss is once again providing guests with an in-flight magazine, the ‘edelweiss experience’. It presents stories from the airline's holiday destinations on 50 double pages and is published twice a year.

In March, non-stop flights to North America are gradually resumed. In July, Edelweiss exceeds pre-crisis levels for the first time with over 300,000 passengers per month.

An Airbus A320 is presented with a special livery. Countless red hands symbolise the helping hands of the Lufthansa Group's aid organisation, help alliance.

Edelweiss is using this year to secure stability and expand partnerships. Due to the pandemic, the six long-haul aircraft cannot be fully utilised; two Airbus A330s will be returned to SWISS in June 2021.

In July, Edelweiss will relocate its head office to the Circle at Zurich Airport. Switzerland's largest Minergie-certified office building offers modern workspaces for over 170 employees. With its 2021/22 winter flight schedule, the airline serves 50 holiday destinations in 29 countries. Edelweiss also enters into a partnership with the Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Formula 1 team and flies the team to many of its global race destinations.

The COVID-19 pandemic hits aviation hard. Edelweiss has to suspend scheduled flights for almost two months in March 2020, and part of its Airbus A320 fleet is parked at Dübendorf military airfield. Together with SWISS and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Edelweiss operates repatriation flights and brings thousands of Swiss tourists home.

Despite the crisis, the airline remains creative: at Zurich Airport, Edelweiss opens the ‘Edelweiss Café’ in collaboration with Autogrill Switzerland, inspiring guests with food and drinks reminiscent of the airline's popular holiday destinations.

For the first time, over 2 million passengers travel with the Swiss holiday airline. At the same time, Edelweiss is committed to social causes: 24 employees build a house for a family in need in San José, Costa Rica, in cooperation with the help alliance (Lufthansa Group's charitable organisation).

In 2019, Edelweiss focuses on service innovations: a new catering concept with modern tableware is introduced. In addition, another Airbus A320 and two Airbus A340s are added to the fleet to strengthen the flight programme and increase flight schedule stability.

Sustainability is gaining in importance: Edelweiss is the first Swiss airline to integrate voluntary CO₂ compensation directly into the booking process. In cooperation with the myclimate foundation, projects that offset emissions are supported.

Edelweiss invests in its fleet, service and brand image. In 2016, the airline takes delivery of the Airbus A330-300 ‘Chäserrugg’, the first aircraft to be named according to the ‘Where Edelweiss is at home’ concept. Each aircraft bears the name of a region where the Edelweiss flower grows. The Airbus A320 fleet is modernised and equipped with wireless entertainment. The Edelweiss Travel Magazine is published for the first time and the long-haul network grows with new destinations.

The highlight of the summer: a spectacular flyover at the Züri Fäscht together with the Swiss Air Force's PC-7 TEAM, which was admired by hundreds of thousands of festival visitors. The event was also recorded with seven 360° cameras and can be experienced as a virtual reality film on the Edelweiss YouTube channel.

In October 2016, the first of four new Airbus A340s will join the fleet, followed by the renewal of the crew uniforms. Edelweiss is also making travel even more comfortable: sports equipment weighing up to 23 kg will be transported free of charge across the entire route network.

The second Airbus A340 will follow in 2017, along with eleven new holiday destinations and further long-haul destinations. The short- and medium-haul fleet will grow by three Airbus A320s, bringing the total fleet to 15 aircraft by the end of 2018.

2015 marks a very special year in the history of Edelweiss. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the airline is going on tour with the Edelweiss Zeppelin in the summer. Thousands of people at six locations in Switzerland are experiencing the holiday airline from a new perspective. At the same time, Edelweiss is resolutely pursuing its growth strategy. In July, the largest fleet expansion in the company's history is announced: the fleet is set to grow significantly by the end of 2018. Four Airbus A340s are being taken over from sister company SWISS. The fleet expansion will create up to 400 new jobs. The route network is also being expanded. In November, another Airbus A320 joins the Edelweiss fleet. The Airbus is the first aircraft to receive the new Edelweiss livery.

2014 is all about further development and investment in quality. In April, the fifth Airbus A320 joins the fleet, and in June, Edelweiss completes the comprehensive refurbishment of its Airbus A330 fleet. Since then, guests have benefited from more legroom in Economy Max and a modern Business Class on long-haul flights.

In September, Bernd Bauer takes over as the new CEO and consistently drives forward modernisation. In addition to fleet expansion and service investments, Edelweiss is also focusing on promoting young pilots: from autumn 2014, it will launch its own ‘ab initio’ commercial pilot training programme in cooperation with Swiss Aviation Training (SAT). The airline supports the candidates during their training, contributes to the costs and guarantees them a permanent position at Edelweiss upon successful completion.

Edelweiss is also innovative in its communication and branding: a Cobra tram with Edelweiss livery has been a feature of Zurich's cityscape for a year. Under the slogan ‘Towards the sun’, it conveys a holiday feeling and provides information about Edelweiss destinations. Around 1.5 million passengers use the Edelweiss tram, while the airline transports over 1 million passengers to more than 40 holiday destinations with its fleet of two long-haul and five short-haul aircraft.

At the beginning of the 2010s, Edelweiss continued its growth trajectory. For the first time, over one million passengers travelled with the Swiss holiday airline in a single year – a significant milestone in the company's history.

At the same time, the range of services on offer continued to grow. In 2011, the long-haul fleet was strengthened with the addition of an Airbus A330-300. Edelweiss now served its most popular holiday destinations with two long-haul aircraft. The short- and medium-haul fleet is also being expanded: in April 2012, a fourth Airbus A320 joins the fleet. Rising demand, a growing fleet and an increasing number of employees underline Edelweiss' successful development during this phase.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Edelweiss expanded its services beyond Europe. In November 2000, a new chapter began with the first flight to the Maldives: for the first time, an Airbus A330 took off for a long-haul destination. In 2002, Karl Kistler took over as CEO and accompanied the airline's further development. A significant milestone followed in November 2008: Edelweiss became part of the Lufthansa Group and a sister company of Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS). This consolidated the holiday airline's position and created a stable basis for sustainable growth.

On 19 October 1995, Edelweiss Air Ltd. is founded by Kuoni Travel Ltd. and Niklaus Grob. With a clear vision and a pioneering spirit, the young holiday airline begins to take shape. In February 1996, Edelweiss received its operating licence, and shortly afterwards the first commercial flight took off – from Zurich to Larnaca with a stopover in Paphos. Two McDonnell Douglas MD-83s made up the first fleet. Just a few years later, an important development step followed: in 1999, Edelweiss began renewing its fleet and switched to modern, more efficient Airbus A320s.