Name of the airline: Swiss International Air Lines
Website: www.swiss.com
Headquarters:
Swiss International Air Lines
P.O. Box
4002 Basel
Switzerland

General Information:
Swissair was the former national airline of Switzerland. It was formed of a merger between Balair and Ad Astra Aero in 1931. For most of its 71 years, Swissair was known as the "Flying Bank" due to the financial stability of the airline, causing it to be regarded as a Swiss national symbol and icon.

In the 1990s Swissair initiated the "Hunter Strategy", a major expansion program devised by the consulting firm of McKinsey & Co. Using this strategy, Swissair aimed to grow its market share through the acquisition of small airlines rather than entering into alliances agreements. Swissair was advised to acquire 49.5 percent of the unprofitable Belgian flag carrier, Sabena, and significant stakes in the carriers Air Liberté, AOM, Air Littoral, Volare, LOT, Air Europe, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, South African Airways, Portugalia and LTU.

Crossair restarted the company in 2001 and the successor airlines Swiss International Air Lines and Swiss European Air Lines were born. These two airlines are divisions of Swiss, the parent company. Swiss merged into the Lufthansa Group and Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the flag carrier of Germany.

With the merger with Lufthansa, Swiss joined the Star Alliance as Lufthansa is a member of Star Alliance. The two airlines operate their flights on behalf of each other, making up something similar to a joint flag carrier of Germany and Switzerland.

Operating Fleet:
Swiss has since retired all of its Boeing and McDonell Douglas fleet and operates all Airbus models from the A319 to the A340 aircraft. Swiss retired its Saab 2000 and Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft, and operates the British Aerospace Avro Aerospace RJ-85 and 100 aircraft.

Destinations
Complete list of destinations can be found here: http://www.simairline.net/swissair/destinations.html.