SWISS cancels more flights as freezing weather disrupts operations

SWISS has cancelled additional flights due to severe winter weather, marking the second wave of disruptions this week. On Saturday alone, the airline cancelled 12 individual flights, according to a spokesperson quoted by Keystone-SDA.

The affected services were return flights from Zurich to Nice, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, London, Milan and Luxembourg. In addition to cancellations, SWISS warned of significant delays, with arriving flights into Zurich Airport facing average delays of around 1.5 hours.

The airline cited extensive de-icing requirements in the current freezing conditions as a key factor behind the disruptions, adding that further schedule adjustments could not be ruled out as weather conditions evolve during the day.

Since the start of the year, a total of 93 SWISS flights have been cancelled due to adverse weather, affecting around 10,000 passengers in January alone. Tuesday night was the coldest of the winter so far in Switzerland, with temperatures dropping to –10°C in lowland areas.

SWISS said passengers on cancelled flights are being rebooked as quickly as possible by its Operations Centre, with ticket refunds available on request via customer service and the SWISS app. To cope with the situation, the airline has deployed additional staff and remains in close coordination with MeteoSwiss to assess conditions on a daily, route-by-route basis.

By contrast, Geneva Airport reported no flight cancellations as of late Saturday morning.