SWISS carried around 1.33 million passengers during the autumn holiday period from 25 September to 18 October 2026, operating a total of 10,154 flights. Operational stability remained high at 98.2 per cent, while departure punctuality improved by 3.7 percentage points compared to the previous year. London, Palma de Mallorca and Berlin were particularly popular destinations in Europe, while New York, Chicago and Boston topped the long-haul rankings.
Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) looks back on a successful autumn holiday period. Between 25 September and 18 October 2026, a total of 1,334,655 passengers travelled with SWISS. The airline operated 10,154 flights during this period. Compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, SWISS carried 1.5 per cent fewer passengers.
Improved punctuality
68 per cent of SWISS flights departed on time during the autumn holiday period. A flight is considered punctual if it departs no more than 15 minutes behind schedule. This represents an improvement of 3.7 percentage points compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Operational stability also remained at a very high level of 98.2 per cent. This figure represents the proportion of flights actually operated compared to those scheduled twelve weeks in advance.
Oliver Buchhofer, Chief Operating Officer of SWISS, highlights the positive developments in operational performance: “Unlike the summer holiday period, the peak travel demand in autumn is concentrated within a relatively short period. This makes it all the more important that our operations run reliably, even when demand is high, and that our passengers reach their destinations as punctually as possible. The improvement in punctuality is the result of optimized processes that we have implemented together with our partners. The high level of operational stability also demonstrates that our operational system is fundamentally working well. This is very encouraging, and we intend to build on this progress.”
London and New York particularly popular
Among European destinations, London Heathrow (LHR) topped the rankings during the autumn holiday period, followed by Palma de Mallorca (PMI) and Berlin (BER). On long-haul routes, destinations in the United States proved particularly popular. New York JFK (JFK) ranked first, followed by Chicago (ORD) and Boston (BOS).
