easyJet Europe (EC, Vienna) chief executive officer Thomas Haagensen has expressed disappointment that easyJet Switzerland (DS, Geneva) has not received Swiss government aid.
In an interview with Telebasel on May 29, Haagensen said he could not understand why the budget carrier did not receive aid and hoped there was still a chance for it to do so.
Switzerland's Federal Council had asked parliament for guarantee credits totalling just under CHF1.9 billion Swiss francs (USD1.95 billion) including CHF1.275 billion (USD1.325 billion) to secure loans to Swiss airlines and CHF600 million (USD623.7 million) to support aviation-related businesses at Swiss airports.
On April 30, the council revealed that Swiss (LX, Zurich) would receive assistance along with Edelweiss Air (WK, Zurich), but that easyJet Switzerland did not meet the conditions for a subsidiary federal commitment and therefore would not be granted anything.
The LCC, a 51/49 joint-venture between a consortium of Swiss investors and easyJet Plc, was told to revert to its parent firm to cover its liquidity needs. But, as its turnover is less than CHF500 million (USD519.75 million), easyJet Switzerland does have the option of applying for a COVID bridging credit, the council said.
"I expect all companies based here and hiring people here to be taken into account," Haagensen said.
The CEO added that easyJet is still in talks with the Swiss government and hopes for an early solution. It is also in talks with other partners, including airports, to reduce fixed costs, such as airport fees.
easyJet Switzerland employs approximately 1,000 people, but it is not yet clear if they will be affected by the 30% reduction in staff announced on May 28 across the group. The easyJet group also announced it would shrink its fleet by 51, to 302 aircraft, at the end of 2021. easyJet Switzerland has seven A319-100s, and twenty-three A320-200s in its fleet.
On May 21 easyJet said it would resume flights from June 15, including Geneva. "We are currently looking at the plans for July, and I hope that we can then take off again from Zurich and Basel/Mulhouse/Freiburg, CH," said Haagensen.
