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SCMP Reporter

TRAFFIC between Switzerland and Hong Kong has doubled in the past five years, says Juerg Mueller, Swissair's passenger sales manager in the territory.

  As Hong Kong's importance as a big re-exporting centre increases, travel and traffic between the two is expected to increase further.

  ''Last year, about 55,000 people travelled between Switzerland and the territory on our carrier,'' Mr Mueller said.

  ''This is quite a substantial figure because there are other airlines operating between the two places - which means the total figure would otherwise be a lot greater.

  ''There is probably an extra 20 per cent that travelled with other airlines.

  ''The traffic is going to continue to grow.''   While a great deal of traffic between the two was trade-related, Hong Kong and other parts of Southeast Asia were becoming a popular holiday spot for Swiss families.

  ''Swiss tourists have the money and, with China markets booming, our Europe-Hong Kong routes are bound to take-off,'' Mr Mueller said.

  Switzerland and Hong Kong relied on external trade, which Mr Mueller said would increase steadily this year with growth in imports of Swiss watches and exports of Hong Kong textiles.

  ''We would like to increase the number of flights into and out of Hong Kong but we are faced with restrictions from the Hong Kong authorities,'' he said.

  ''We believe there is demand for a daily flight to Zurich, but we may not be able to start such a service until after the new airport is opened.''   Although real ticket prices had fallen throughout the industry since the Gulf War, Mr Mueller said Hong Kong and Asian destinations were still lucrative markets.

  ''Locally, our bread and butter is the business traveller, either the expatriate or Hong Kong Chinese, and our focus is on frequent travel from Asia to Europe,'' Mr Mueller said.

  ''Ever since the Gulf War many companies have changed their travel policies and have downgraded their flying schemes from first class to business class and from business class to economy.

  ''There are now a large number of business travellers who are going to Europe in economy class.

  ''We are one of the few carriers to have an allocated business class for short-haul flights.''   Mr Mueller said on many airlines price and services were the only differences between the first, business and economy classes, which were partitioned only by curtains.

  ''Swissair has more space between seats in our business section, providing more leg-room. Our business section can't be changed by moving a curtain,'' he said.

  Seating configurations in business class were also changed on some flights, to three rows of two, so passengers were never more than one seat away from the aisle or a window, Mr Mueller said.

  Passengers in first class had their own television and, under a new service called Dreamtime, pillows and sheets.

  Swissair has five flights a week from Hong Kong to Zurich, three of which go via Bombay to pick up cargo.

   Swissair operates two non-stop flights to Zurich a week. Three weekly flights to Hong Kong continue on to Seoul. It has two flights a week to Manila.

  Although the company was Swiss-based, its main focus was Europe and not Switzerland, Mr Mueller said.

  ''We use Zurich airport as a hub. It is an excellent transit facility because it is modern, efficient, right in the heart of Europe and is run like a Swiss clock,'' he said.

  From Zurich, Swissair flew to 55 European cities. The airport was also one of the main competitors for European transit traffic.

  Swissair did not offer discounts on many of its flights and did not try to be a price leader, the passenger sales manager said.

  ''We have a high-class product which only comes at a price,'' he said. ''In terms of perks, we don't always have to offer competitive prices because we believe we offer a superior product.''   However, Swissair is a member of the Passages frequent flyer programme, which is operated by Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.

  ''Members of this programme travelling first or business class anywhere in the world can accrue kilometres,'' Mr Mueller said.

  ''They can use Passages kilometres for free tickets on Swissair.''   Although the company's Hong Kong to Zurich flights were popular, Mr Mueller said it had taken more than 10 years for Swissair to streamline its routes.

  ''The first flight into Hong Kong went to Geneva, Zurich, Athens, Beirut, Karachi, Calcutta, Bangkok and finally into Kai Tak,'' he said.

  The company, which made a net profit of US$44 million last year, started operating in 1931 and branched into Hong Kong in 1957.

  This year, it has won 10 international awards for excellence, including Britain's Executive Travel magazine's top prize for short hauls, flights to Africa, and economy-class service.

  ''The awards give our customers an idea of where our product is placed in the international market,'' he said.

  ''We are among the top 15 carriers in the world in terms of service, reliability, safety and punctuality.

  ''We also offer a wide range of destinations and fly to 110 places.''   Another big Asian development for Swissair was the opening of the Kansai airport in Osaka last September.

  Kansai would mean Swissair could expand its Japan routes without having to route all its flights to Tokyo.

  Swissair also would resume flights to Beirut in September.



Export growth doubles two-way airline traffic