SWISS posts a first-quarter operating result of CHF 30 million

SWISS achieved a higher operating result in the first quarter of 2026 than in the previous year. It amounted to CHF 30.0 million (Q1 2025: CHF 3.3 million). The airline’s financial performance was noticeably influenced by geopolitical shifts—particularly in connection with the conflict in the Middle East. On certain routes, this led to a short-term increase in demand, resulting in higher average yields. For now, this effect is masking an important point: the significantly increased fuel costs are reaching SWISS with a delay and will have a noticeable negative impact on results in the second quarter.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) reports an operating result or Adjusted EBIT of CHF 30.0 million for the first three months of 2026. An Adjusted EBIT of CHF 3.3 million was achieved for the same period last year. Total first-quarter revenues amounted to CHF 1.22 billion – an increase of 0.3 per cent on the prior-year period (also CHF 1.22 billion) despite a year-on-year reduction in quarterly seat capacity.

“Our results for March were exceptionally strong,” says SWISS CFO Dennis Weber, “so our first-quarter figures should be interpreted with care. The conflict in the Middle East tangibly boosted March demand, especially on our Asian routes, and raised our revenues accordingly. At the same time, the increased cost of jet fuel has not yet been fully felt, because any shifts in these market prices take time to impact on our earnings. These two factors combined to give us a very strong March monthly result and a correspondingly solid first-quarter performance. But in the second-quarter period, the adverse effects of the Middle East conflict will be far more substantially felt.”

“If we had had to pay for our jet fuel back in March at the prices that we saw in April and expect for the months ahead, our first-quarter results would have told a very different story,” CFO Weber continues. “The price of kerosene is currently almost twice as high as it was before the Iran War began. And we started to clearly feel the effects of this in April already, even though we are partially cushioned against such developments through our fuel hedging activities. So we must now work even more intensively on the efficiency enhancements and the cost economies that we had already embarked on long before the onset of the present Middle East crisis.”

Production slightly down, load factors improved

SWISS transported just under 3.7 million passengers in the first three months of 2026, a decline of some 0.4 per cent from the same period last year. The company operated some 29,600 flights, 7.1 per cent fewer than in the prior-year period. Total quarterly production, measured in available seat-kilometers (ASK), was reduced by 3.4 per cent, owing not least to shortages both of aircraft engines as a result of high servicing needs and of cockpit personnel. Total traffic volume, measured in revenue passenger-kilometers (RPK), was a 0.8-percent improvement on the first quarter of 2025. Systemwide seat load factor rose accordingly, by 3.4 percentage points. “Despite our lower production, we were able to take good advantage of the increased demand,” CFO Weber observes. “Our flights were generally very well utilized, and we sold slightly more production than in the previous year.”

Slight declines were seen in both schedule stability and departure punctuality in the first-quarter period. The downward trends are primarily attributable to the numerous cancellations deriving from strike actions in the Lufthansa Group’s other home markets and the repercussions of the conflict in the Middle East. Schedule stability remained very high, however, at 97.4 per cent. First-quarter departure punctuality stood at 75.2 per cent.

Headwinds increasing; focus on structural strength

Irrespective of the present geopolitical developments, SWISS continues to face major structural challenges. In view of these, the company remains fully committed to pursuing the cost reduction program which it launched before the present Middle East conflict began. The program is designed to sustainably improve the company’s structural cost base.

“Our solid 2026 first-quarter earnings are the product of good and hard work by our entire SWISS team,” says CEO Jens Fehlinger. “But they won’t just keep coming. We remain confronted by some fundamental challenges in a testing market environment, with aircraft engines in short supply, productivity falling and cost pressures still high. We also face massive increases in the price of jet fuel. So we must continue to work consistently on ourselves, to ensure that we can act and respond as flexibly as possible in such a volatile world. We must make ourselves and our processes simpler and more efficient,” CEO Fehlinger continues. “This includes concluding a new collective labor agreement for our cockpit personnel – one that reconciles our pilots’ desire to make their lives more plannable with our own urgent need to raise our productivity. This is essential if SWISS is to remain competitive in the longer term. And it’s something we are working on with the highest priority.”

Stable summer travel demand

Looking ahead to the coming summer season, booking trends are robust in the shorter term. Strong demand continues to be seen on Asian routes in particular, which should generate correspondingly higher yields on the services concerned. The overall situation remains very volatile, though, making firm predictions all the harder to offer.

“We are seeing some clear trends in our customers’ travel behavior,” CEO Fehlinger observes. “Growing numbers of travelers are booking at short notice; the demand for our premium classes remains very high; and more and more people traveling to and from Asia are opting to do so on SWISS.”

SWISS’s declared goal is to keep its flight schedules as stable as possible despite the present dynamics. To this end, the company continually monitors the fuel supply situation and is studying various scenarios, in order to swiftly find the best possible solutions for its customers if and when required. The company is also working closely with the Lufthansa Group, its partners and the authorities to ensure reliable fuel supplies.

“What’s crucial to us at SWISS is that, even in challenging times like the present, we continue to provide our customers with a reliable quality air travel experience,” CEO Fehlinger concludes. “The progress we made last year in our product and our services is already being reflected in a growing customer satisfaction. And this is the path we intend to consistently further pursue.”