Swiss has announced details of its upcoming Summer 2024 timetable, which includes the launch of a new route between Zurich and Toronto, as well as one between Zurich and Washington DC.
Other North American cities served by the airline, including Montreal, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, will also see an increase in service as of next year.
Swiss’s New Zurich–Toronto Route
Swiss will begin its second route to Canada with the launch of service between Zurich (ZRH) and Toronto Pearson (YYZ).
As of May 10, 2024, the Zurich-based airline will operate five weekly seasonal flights between the two cities, with no flights scheduled for Mondays and Wednesdays.
As it stands, Air Canada also operates a direct route between Zurich and Toronto, which runs year-round.
This route joins the airline’s pre-existing service to Montreal, which will see additional flights added as of Summer 2024. Furthermore, there are seasonal routes to Calgary and Vancouver with its subsidiary Edelweiss Air, which are set to continue.
The flight times for this new route are as follows:
- Zurich (ZRH) to Toronto Pearson (YYZ), departing 9:55am, and arriving 1pm
- Toronto Pearson (YYZ) to Zurich (ZRH), departing 4:35pm, and arriving 6:30am the next day
Westbound, the flight runs at just over nine hours, and eastbound, the flight is set to run at just under eight hours.
The announcement, which is published on the Swiss website, indicates that the route will be served by the Airbus A330-300, with economy, business class, and First Class cabins.
Swiss’s New Zurich–Washington DC Route
Swiss has also announced that it will begin service between Zurich (ZRH) and Washington Dulles (IAD) as of next year.
Beginning on March 28, 2024, Swiss will operate daily flights between Zurich and Washington Dulles (IAD).
The flight times for this new route are as follows:
- Zurich (ZRH) to Washington Dulles (IAD), departing 1pm, and arriving 4:20pm
- Washington Dulles (IAD) to Zurich (ZRH), departing 8:45pm, and arriving 10:50am the next day
The westbound flight is set to last around nine and a half hours, while the eastbound flight is set at just over eight hours.
This will become the airline’s eighth route to the United States, and its subsidiary Edelweiss Air also operates flights to three other US destinations.
The route will be served by the Airbus A330-300, offering a choice of economy, business class, and First Class cabins.
As part of the Summer 2024 timetable, daily service will resume to Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO).
Booking Swiss New North American Routes with Points
While the flights have yet to be loaded into Swiss’s schedule, once they are, we should begin to see award availability show up. For transatlantic awards booked with Star Alliance loyalty programs, the best candidates from a North American perspective are Aeroplan and Avianca LifeMiles.
With Aeroplan, the flight to Toronto measures 4,044 miles, and the flight to Washington Dulles measures 4,157 miles.
On the “Between North America and Atlantic zones” section of the Aeroplan Flight Reward Chart, we’d need to reference the second distance band for award pricing, which is fixed with partner airlines.
In economy, the awards will be priced at 40,000 Aeroplan points, and in business class, the cost will be 70,000 Aeroplan points.
It’s worth noting that there have been some issues with the Aeroplan website displaying partner award availability recently. Therefore, once award flights become available, you may need to look elsewhere to find award space, and then complete the booking over the phone with the Aeroplan Contact Centre.
With Avianca LifeMiles, we’d expect the awards to price out at around 16,500 LifeMiles in economy, or 63,000 LifeMiles in business class.
While it’s also possible to book Swiss flights with United MileagePlus, the recent global devaluation to the program resulted in transatlantic awards having non-competitive pricing.
Conclusion
Swiss has released details of its Summer 2024 schedule, will will see new routes added between Zurich (ZRH) and Toronto Pearson (YYZ), as well as to Washington DC (IAD). The seasonal service to Toronto is set to fly five-times weekly as of May 2024, while the year-round service to Washington DC will be daily.
Other North American routes, including Montreal, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, will see an increase in the service offered by the Zurich-based airline.
Once the flights are loaded into the schedule, it’s expected that they’ll be available for award bookings through Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, and United MileagePlus.
