As a long-standing partner of the Swiss Football Association, SWISS proudly supports the Swiss national team. Ahead of the quarter-final, the airline made that support visible in a unique way. On Saturday evening, a student pilot and his instructor took off from Grenchen and drew a Swiss cross with a heart in the sky, visible on Flightradar24.
At Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), we believe in teamwork, precision and the idea that the support of an entire country can make all the difference. Using the special callsign “HOPPSCHWIIZ”, student pilot Janis Zurbriggen and Carsten Mangasser, Head of Pilot School at Lufthansa Aviation Training, took off from Grenchen to create a flying message of support for the Swiss national team. While Carsten Mangasser flew as the instructor, Janis Zurbriggen will begin the final stage of his training to become an Airbus A320 First Officer with SWISS in August.
The figure, flown with a training aircraft, stretched across around 60 kilometres and fitted perfectly into the available airspace over western Switzerland, home to many of the national team’s players. Janis Zurbriggen and Carsten Mangasser planned the entire route by hand, carefully calculating altitude, speed and turn radius. Flight safety remained the highest priority throughout.
Sometimes, it doesn’t take a major campaign. A great idea, a passionate student pilot and a flight instructor are enough to send one clear message to an entire team: Switzerland is behind you.
Janis Zurbriggen, student pilot from Visp and future SWISS pilot: “When I was asked to take part, I didn’t have to think twice. You probably only get to plan and fly a mission like this once in a lifetime. It was an incredible experience and I can’t wait to see how the Swiss cross with a heart looks on Flightradar24. I’m proud that we could support our national team in this way. My prediction? A 2-1 win for Switzerland, of course.”
Carsten Mangasser, Head of Pilot School, Lufthansa Aviation Training: “At first glance, a flight like this may look easy. In reality, it requires a great deal of planning. We had to decide how large the figure should be so it would be clearly visible on Flightradar24, make sure there was enough available airspace and determine what was aerodynamically possible. Every single turn had to be carefully planned in advance, especially the sharper corners. It was a real pleasure to fly this unique mission together with Janis. And if our initiative can give the Swiss national team an extra boost, every bit of effort will have been worth it. My prediction: a 1-0 win for Switzerland.”
SWISS will be cheering on the Swiss national team during the quarter-final and wishes the team the very best of luck. HOPPSCHWIIZ!
