Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will become the world’s first airline to operate the cutting-edge Bombardier business jet on its short- and medium-haul networks from mid-2016, said Peter Pullem, head of International Sales and Marketing at the carrier.

The Bombardier C Series aircraft will consumes less fuel than comparable aircraft and provide greater inflight comfort, Pullem said.

For the China market, the carrier will deploy the new Boeing 777 flagship along with new routes in the country. Inflight Wi-Fi and touchscreens are featured on the new 340-seater aircraft.

Meanwhile, codeshare between SWISS and China’s national flagship carrier, Air China, will also provide greater travel flexibility and more coordinated services, according to the executive.

Shanghai Daily recently spoke with Pullem about the development of the airline.

Q: What is SWISS’s global development strategy? Can you tell us a little about your development strategies for the Chinese market? Will there be any new routes to Chinese cities or new code-shares with Chinese carriers in the near future? 

A: An important element in our overall development strategy will be our fleet renewal from next year onwards. In January, we will receive the first of nine new Boeing 777-300ER long-haul twinjets that will feature a state-of-the-art cabin product in all three seating classes. We will also be deploying our new Triple Sevens on the Hong Kong-Zurich route, so we will be able to offer a new travel experience to our Chinese passengers there, along with more seating capacity.

In mid-2016 we will also begin to take delivery of our new Bombardier C Series aircraft for our short- and medium-haul networks. SWISS will be the first airline in the world to operate this advanced and efficient new twinjet, which consumes substantially less fuel, is 50 percent quieter than comparable aircraft and will provide even greater inflight comfort for our guests.

Apart from deploying our new Boeing 777 fleet flagship to the Chinese market, we are not currently looking into opening up any new routes in the region. We feel we are well positioned in the market, not least through the wide choice of connections that are offered by the broader Lufthansa Group, of which we are a member. Together with our group partner airlines we provide everything from morning to evening connections to Europe via our four hubs — Zurich, Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna. And these services are all easily combinable, too. Since April we have also been offering a code-share service on Air China’s flights between Geneva and Beijing, while Air China offers a code-share on our daily Zurich-Beijing service as well as on our Zurich-Geneva flights. These code-share arrangements provide greater travel flexibility and more coordinated services for both partners’ customers.

Q: What is the role of SWISS within the Lufthansa Group?

A: It has always been vitally important to us that SWISS, as “the Airline of Switzerland,” remains an autonomous entity within the Lufthansa Group. We have our own well-positioned brand, which benefits strongly from the size and strength of the Lufthansa Group and the various synergies that our group membership provides.

To enhance the group’s overall efficiency, speed up decision-making and reduce complexities, we will soon be seeing some realignments within Lufthansa Group. And these will involve SWISS, too. These realignments will help us gear our products and our processes even more consistently to our customers’ needs. Among other things, we are already preparing a new IT infrastructure that will be standardized group-wide.

All these actions are essential to help ensure that the Lufthansa Group remains the “first choice in aviation” for customers. And, as the Airline of Switzerland, SWISS will continue to play an important role within it.

Q: Passengers were amazed by designs for the new SWISS Boeing 777-300ERs that Priestmangoode released recently. Could you tell us about the design’s highlights, and when the design will be applied to the SWISS cabin? When will the SWISS Triple Seven start serving the Chinese market?

A: With our new Boeing 777-300ERs, we will be setting new benchmarks in terms of our customers’ inflight comfort and overall air travel experience. The totally-redesigned cabin interior will offer the highest levels of comfort and aesthetics in all three seating classes.

New comfort levels, inflight Wi-Fi and touchscreens for all are key features of our new 340-seater aircraft. The interior design allows our First Class guests to create semi-private suites with a 32-inch screen, the biggest entertainment screens in the airline industry. And the new electro-mechanical window shades can be operated simultaneously for all three windows in the traveller’s seat zone.

Our Business Class guests will also have more privacy and space in a configuration which was improved mainly based on customer feedback. And, as at present, the Business Class seat can be swiftly transformed into a lie-flat bed that is over 2 meters long, while the firmness or softness of the seat cushion can be individually regulated.

Our Economy Class passengers can also look forward to optimum inflight comfort through greater legroom, new seat-cushion technology and inflight entertainment that will be offered on a large 11-inch personal touchscreen with USB and audio connections. And as a further innovation, our Economy Class guests will be able to obtain a wide range of drinks and snacks from a new self-service kiosk outside our regular cabin service.

We are delighted that we will also be able to introduce the Boeing 777-300ER on several services a week between Zurich and Hong Kong from April 2016 onwards.

Q: What do you think are the advantages of SWISS compared with other high-end airlines?

A: Our SWISSness, for sure. Switzerland is one of the strongest “nation brands” in the world, and this makes it easier for us to differentiate ourselves from other airlines. We make great efforts to stand out from the competition and put as much SWISSness as possible into our products and services. This ranges from small gestures such as the chocolates we distribute to every passenger to our award-winning “SWISS Taste of Switzerland” culinary program in First and Business Class.

Q: How is SWISS performing in the Chinese market? 

A: SWISS is very well established in China. We currently offer daily non-stop flights to Zurich from Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. And in the past nine months we have seen passenger numbers on these routes rise by around 13 percent, and have had revenue growth, too. The seat load factors on our China routes are up as well.

Further enhancing the quality of our products and services will continue to be our focus in the coming months. Early next April we’ll be deploying our new flagship Boeing 777 with its brand-new cabin product on our Hong Kong-Zurich route. And this will increase our capacity from and to Hong Kong by around 18 percent.

Q: The steak meals served in First Class also look impressive. I think Chinese passengers are eager to know when they can have a taste of them.

A: Thank you! We launched our new “SWISS Connoisseur Experience” in September, to provide even more culinary variety for our First Class guests. Our aim here is to enrich our inflight fare with exclusive and carefully selected food specialities that are geared to the season and focus on a particular gourmet delight — like the “SWISS Steakhouse” in September, white Alba truffles in November, seafood in February and a selection of caviar in May. We will be offering the new program on our flights from Switzerland to all intercontinental destinations for a two-week period four times a year. So if you take a flight from Switzerland during one of these months, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to sample it.

Q: Can you explain your “SWISSness”? How do passengers feel this in your cabin?

A: Our guests can feel SWISSness everywhere in our cabins. One hugely important element here is our typically Swiss hospitality, which is in Switzerland’s DNA. Our cabin crews are well trained in all the details of good service and hospitality. And they are also our main brand ambassadors, and the key to our SWISSness.

We want our Swiss customers to feel at home, and we want to give our international customers the chance to sample typical Swiss products even before they arrive in our home country. This includes our famous Swiss chocolate tablets for all passengers, our inflight food, drinks and entertainment and even our amenity kits, which contain top-quality products from reputed Swiss manufacturers like La Prairie in First Class.

We also work very closely with young Swiss designers. The current Business Class seat on our long-haul fleet, for example, is the work of Swiss designer Patrick Lindon.

And the SWISS First Class blankets and pillows are from Swiss designer Caroline Flueler. In fact, she’s responsible for the design of the seat covers, blankets and pillows in all three classes on our intercontinental fleet.