Airline will fight hard to keep its Swiss role

The company has just won best European airline in the coveted SkyTrax awards; has increased passenger figures by five per cent over 2008; and is expected to announce a profit for this year.

Parent company Lufthansa has also pledged £635million to bring in new, quieter, more fuel efficient aircraft for Swiss at London City Airport - although not until 2014.

So what has gone right for Swiss? According to Mr Koncilja, the airline - owned wholly by Lufthansa since a 2007 takeover - is well positioned to take advantage of the recession.

The 38-year-old general manager said: "We rather see the crisis as a great opportunity.

"We offer 29 flights a day into Switzerland from the UK - 15 of which are out of London City. This is the backbone of the organisation. It is a like a shuttle service.

"It's led to a situation where Air France, for example, has pulled out completely from London City to Zurich because in our home territory, which is very important for us, we will do anything to keep those routes and frequencies alive."

Such is Swiss' determination to ward off rivals to its homeland, it is heavily advertising a highly competitive fare for Basel from London City, starting at £69 return.

With no extra fee for baggage and the offer of a saving on travel to the likes of Stansted and Gatwick, it is an attempt to be competition even for budget airlines.

Mr Koncilja said: "People don't make the full calculation, maybe they just look at the airfare.

"But we are very competitive, maybe even cheaper than low cost and we go to and from very convenient airports."

It is the strong backing from Lufthansa, one of the world's biggest airlines, which has allowed it to protect its key routes so vigorously.

Mr Koncilja says the benefits of such a union are considerable and include having better bargaining power when dealing with suppliers and being able to share aircraft fleet.

Other unions have been forming, such as the merged Air France and KLM recently buying London City's VLM Airlines, and in Ireland Ryanair attempting to take over Aer Lingus.

Mr Koncilja sees these super brands as being the future of aviation during and after the recession.

He said: "That's what's going to happen in other parts of the world - many groups forming.

"There is no room for new airlines. Although aircraft are quite cheap to buy, you have to fill the aircraft and you have to have a loyal community of travellers and frequent flyer programmes."

Last year Swiss hired an extra 471 staff as new routes were launched. This year there will be a concerted effort to keep costs down.

Which means, although London City Airport has received planning permission for more flights, Swiss will continue to focus on improving passenger numbers for its current routes rather than launching new ones.

Mr Koncilja said: "We're looking for new target groups and there's plenty of opportunities out of London City Airport.

"For instance, out of Heathrow we have 30-35 per cent of our passengers transferring at Zurich but from London City it is only 10 per cent.

"Zurich is a recognised award winning airport, a great stopping point, so passengers like to transfer there.

"From London City Airport it can be a great opportunity to change for places such as Istanbul or Bucharest. More people are flying out of City and it's not just point to point."

Despite admitting it is a time of consolidation for the airline, the Swiss boss does have much optimism for the future, which is backed up by the airline's fleet orders.

He said: "These are cycles. We believe it cannot get much worse in the banking sector and that there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

"Which is why we are purchasing more aircraft for our London City operations.

"You have to initiate the process pretty early, and today is likely to be completely different with what will happen five or six years from now."