Switzerland’s Edelweiss airline is eliminating flights to two US destinations from its summer schedule, citing ‘geopolitical’ reasons.
“Edelweiss is making adjustments to its North American routes in the summer flight schedule,” SWISS’ sister airline announced on April 16th.
Concretely, flights from Zurich to Denver (Colorado) and Seattle (Washington) “are being discontinued with immediate effect.”
Additionally, the frequency of another US-bound flight – from Zurich to Las Vegas – “will be reduced during the early summer and autumn.”
The reasons given for these moves are “geopolitical developments” as well as “declining demand for certain destinations in the USA.”
Downward trend
The United States fell out of favour among Swiss travellers already in 2025 – a phenomenon called the “Trump slump.”
“We expect a drop in arrivals from Switzerland in 2026, of around 20 to 25 percent,” said Heinz Zimmermann, president of the Visit USA (Vusa) committee, working to promote the United States as a tourist destination.
This trend is also confirmed by Martin Wittwer, president of the Swiss Travel Association (SRV),
He attributed this drop in Swiss tourists to Donald Trump’s policies – both globally and toward Switzerland as well.
READ MORE: Why are fewer Swiss travelling to the United States
Nevertheless, Edelweiss will continue to fly (at least for the time being) from its Zurich hub to Tampa, Florida, in addition to Las Vegas at a reduced frequency.
Advertisement
What is the situation over at SWISS?
Measures taken at Switzerland’s flagship carrier are not as drastic.
The company announced in March that it is cutting the frequency of its Zurich to Chicago flight from 14 to 12 weekly, and the one from Zurich to Shanghai will only fly three times a week instead of seven.
However, these changes are a result of logistics, not politics: the reason for the cuts is the shortage of pilots and aircraft.
READ MORE: Why is SWISS cancelling some flights to the US this summer?
