The airline Swiss was able to benefit from strong demand and higher ticket prices in the previous year, as the Lufthansa subsidiary closed the 2022 financial year with a profit of 456 million Swiss francs. In 2021, the company was deep in the red with minus 405 million euros.

At 10,4 percent, the adjusted EBIT margin was in the two-digit range and operating income was around twice as high as in the previous year at CHF 4,41 billion. Swiss's liquidity situation has continued to improve since the early repayment of the bank loan. Compared to the previous year, this means an increase of almost CHF 900 million (2021: CHF – 405 million). At 10,4 percent, the adjusted EBIT margin was back in the double-digit range. Operating income amounted to CHF 4,41 billion and was thus twice as high as in the previous year (2021: 2,1 billion).

"With an adjusted EBIT margin of over 10 percent, the result for 2022 was clearly better than expected. This allowed us to involve all our stakeholders in the success. For example, our employees were able to benefit from last year's results with over CHF 100 million in various one-off bonuses and variable salary components," explains Swiss CFO Markus Binkert.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the carrier was able to substantially improve its operating result to CHF 169 million. This means a significant increase of around CHF 200 million compared to the same period of the previous year (Q4 2021: CHF – 29 million). In the same period, operating income also increased significantly compared to 2021: at CHF 1,23 billion, it was more than 67% higher than in the previous year (Q4 2021: CHF 735 million).

The continued strong cargo demand and the resulting strongest cargo result in the company's history also had a positive effect on the result. In addition, the cost structures based on the restructuring of the previous year contributed to the successful course of business.

“Despite major challenges in aviation as a whole, we managed to turn around in 2022 and, with an operational stability of over 99 percent, flew well into the profit zone again in the summer. This flight plan stability as the basis of our success will also be one of our priorities this year," says company boss Dieter Vranckx.

In the 2022 financial year, the number of passengers carried by Swiss rose by 116% to 12,8 million. The number of flights grew by 89 percent compared to the previous year to around 107.000. Overall, SWISS offered 2022 per cent more seat kilometers (ASK) on the entire route network in 65. The number of revenue seat kilometers (RPK) increased by 145 percent over the same period. The passenger load factor averaged 80,9 percent and was thus 26,5 percentage points higher than the previous year's figure. The load factor on the intercontinental routes was slightly higher than on the European routes.

Swiss expects 85 percent of the pre-crisis level

For 2023, the carrier expects capacity to be around 85 percent of what it was before the pandemic. For this purpose, the entire Swiss fleet will be positioned at the Zurich and Geneva locations again in the summer of 2023. Furthermore, additional machines have been secured as part of wet lease agreements. These are operated by Helvetic Airways and Air Baltic.

"With the successful course of business, we have created a good starting position for 2023. We have the necessary financial resources to remain an attractive employer for our employees, to raise the customer experience to a new level and to further expand our pioneering role as a sustainable Swiss airline," says Vranckx about the prospects for the current year.