Kuoni, SWISS Enter into Strategic Partnership

Kuoni Travel Holding and Swiss International Air Lines are to embark on a comprehensive strategic partnership. The customers of both companies will benefit from the wider range of products and services that the collaboration should provide as the two companies stated. The partnership will also enable Kuoni and SWISS to focus on their respective core competencies.

Kuoni will offer its range of hotels via SWISS.COM, and SWISS will acquire Kuoni’s leisure airline Edelweiss Air.

The comprehensive strategic partnership will enable Kuoni and SWISS to make optimum use of their respective strengths and capabilities and exploit new synergies; and the wider range of products and services it provides will benefit both partners’ customers.

Under the planned collaboration, Kuoni will offer an extensive range of hotel accommodations via the SWISS.com website from January 1, 2009 onwards. Kuoni’s hotel range currently extends to more than 15 000 selected establishments in all categories all over the world.

The SWISS.com website will allow private individuals to choose their preferred hotel at their SWISS or Edelweiss Air destination and book it directly. The range of hotels offered will also extend to destinations beyond the present SWISS network.

The new facility will enable customers to combine their desired flights and hotel accommodation and book the whole arrangement online. In the past, these facilities were offered solely to travel agencies and other tour operators. Under the new collaboration, they will now be available to private customers, too.

The new Kuoni/SWISS partnership will also result in a closer collaboration between SWISS and Edelweiss Air to which each carrier will contribute its own core competencies. Edelweiss Air’s aircraft will continue to be operated by Edelweiss Air personnel. And, under a broader and comprehensive collaboration agreement, Kuoni will buy-in seat capacity on SWISS and Edelweiss Air leisure flights.

SWISS and Edelweiss Air have served largely complementary destinations to date. By amalgamating their activities, the partners can achieve sizeable synergies in terms of distributing their capacities and optimizing their flight schedules.

The parties agreed not to divulge the purchase price involved. In view of the organizational and system modifications required, the collaboration is expected to enter into full and tangible effect with the start of the winter schedules at the end of October 2008.