Swiss will transfer its Avro RJ fleet to a newly-created subsidiary, Swiss European Air Lines. The new airline will continue to fly under the Swiss brand, but will have its own management and operating certificate. Swiss currently operates four Avro RJ85s and fifteen RJ100s, but will increase its RJ100 fleet to 24 by next summer. Swiss has been under pressure from new owner Lufthansa to cut its costs. An earlier plan to shift the regional fleet to a low-cost subsidiary to be called Swiss Express was abandoned in 2003.
Recent news items on Swiss:
- Ex-Swiss Avro RJ100 being prepared for Air Libya (2018-06-10)
- Last Swiss Avro RJ100 departs Zürich (2017-08-24)
- Swiss ends Avro RJ100 operations (2017-08-15)
- Swiss is down to a single Avro RJ100 (2017-07-05)
- Third Avro RJ100 delivered to Aerovías DAP (2017-04-29)