Airbus A330 “HB-IQR” enters service for SWISS

The SWISS fleet today welcomed its eleventh Airbus A330 and twentieth long-haul aircraft to commercial service today. Bearing the registration letters HB-IQR, the A330 took off for Montreal on its first SWISS flight at mid-day today. As announced back in June, SWISS will use this additional aircraft to add frequencies on various intercontinental routes to North America, the Middle East and Africa.

Back on November 14 SWISS deployed the first of its newly-acquired Airbus A330s as a replacement for the aircraft leased in from Hapag-Lloyd this past summer. This leasing became necessary when SWISS introduced an additional daily flight to New York as of the summer 2006 timetable.

The SWISS long-haul fleet currently consists of 11 Airbus A330 and 9 A340 aircraft plus the leased-in PrivatAir Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) that operates on the Zurich-Newark route.