Swiss International Air Lines to Retire airbusโฃ A220-100 Fleet
ZURICH – Swiss โInternational Air โคLines is phasing out its nine Airbus A220-100 aircraft due to engineโฃ issues, the airline announced Thursday. The move, confirmed by CFO Dennis Weber during a press conference, willโ begin in November wiht seven aircraft removed from service gradually, with the process completedโ by next summer. Two A220-100s โคwill be retained as reserve aircraft but will no longer be used for regular scheduled flights.
The decision stems from premature โwear observed in โthe Pratt & Whitney PW1524G and PW1524G-3 โengines powering the A220-100s,leading toโข unplanned maintenanceโ andโฃ currently grounding “more than ten aircraft,” according to Weber.
To mitigate further disruptions, Swiss will utilize engines from the retired A220-100 fleet to support the maintenance ofโ its larger A220-300 aircraft, ensuring greater reliability โforโข the larger regional jets. “We are also reducing the complexity of the โfleet,” Weber stated.
While retiring the A220-100, โSwiss has no plans โขto sell or exchange โฃthe aircraft forโค additional โA220-300s.โ The airline previously utilized the smaller โคA220-100s for routes such as London โขCity airport.
Weber indicated the decommissioning process is expected to take approximately a year and a half.
