Swiss Airlines will be further expanding its range of services between Geneva and London on 10 January 2010. An additional aircraft will be stationed in Geneva to operate the new flights. Swiss and its sister Lufthansa Group airline British Midland (bmi) also plan to collaborate more closely on their services between Switzerland and the UK.   

Swiss is steadily expanding its services to and from Geneva, despite the continuing economic crisis. From 10 January 2010 onwards, Swiss will offer six new daily services between Geneva and London Heathrow. Together with a modified service of four daily flights to London City (compared to the present six), Swiss will be doubling the number of seats it offers to and from the important London market, and further strengthening its position at and around Geneva.       

“No other airline offers a more attractive range of services to London’s biggest and most central airports,” says Swiss CEO Harry Hohmeister, commenting on the expansion. “And it’s our business success in Geneva that’s enabling us to further expand our network and take active advantage of the market opportunities here.”  

The new services between Geneva and London Heathrow will be operated by two aircraft of the Airbus A320 family. In an initial phase, one of these will be provided by bmi, Swiss’s new sister airline within the Lufthansa Group. Later, however, Swiss will operate all these London Heathrow services with its own equipment. A further Swiss Airbus A320 will be stationed in Geneva for this purpose.

Swiss’s present four-times-weekly service between Geneva and Bucharest is to be withdrawn owing to insufficient market demand. Customers from the Geneva region can continue to travel to and from Romania, however, via a daily Zurich connection.     

The planned collaboration with bmi will not be limited to the Geneva-London Heathrow route, either, but should be extended to all flights between Switzerland and the UK: in future, every one of the more than 430 weekly Swiss Airlines services between the two countries should be operated together with bmi under codeshare arrangements.

Book your flights from London to Geneva with Swiss Airlines here.

As part of our summer in the Alps series, I thought after cycling and walking that a more sedate activity should be in order and just as I was thinking that a brochure from Great Rail Journeys landed on my doorstep offering late availability for Alpine train journeys. Some of them sounds amazing and well worth a last minute summer booking.

All train journeys depart from St Pancras and head to the Swiss Alps for various destinations. Your journey will begin on the Eurostar to Paris, you will then transfer to a TGV train in Paris to complete your journey to Switzerland, then the real journey will begin to see the delights of your chosen tour.

Train journeys to the Swiss Alps include
Alps of Lake Geneva – based in the market town of Vevey
Glacier Express re-discovered – The Glacier Express is famous for it’s views, across the Oberalp Pass.
Glacier Express to St Moritz – this trip takes in the whole length of the Glacier Express and heads into St Moritz where you can shop, spa and treat yourself to gourmet dining.
Walking in the Swiss Alps – based in Kandersteg which is a true alpine gem, surrounded by unspoilt scenery. An ideal base for walking and for enjoying the mountain railways.
Jungfrau Express – based out of the town of Meiringen, and taking in the views of the Jungfrau and the local steam railways and cruises.

All the trips sound amazing and most of the deals include breakfast and dinner as well.

View more information and book at Great Rail Journey’s website http://www.greatrail.com/great-rail-holidays-themes/lakes–mountains.aspx?page=2

If you’re not into organised travel then you can visit these destinations independently by booking your trains seperately through the Rail Europe website, it takes a little bit of time and effort but no doubt will secure you the most cost effective price. Visit Rail Europe.