Airlines fighting to capture market share

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND –  If you want to leave Geneva in the next few weeks for a cheap getaway, you’ll find it easy, with every airline hustling for your business. Darwin announced Monday morning that tickets from Geneva to Florence, Lugano, Rome and Valencia will be 20 percent off until 8 November.

Shortly after, Swiss announced that its new “Economy Flex” and “Economy Light” prices from Geneva, which start at CHF39 one-way, come with a special offer from 6 November to 19 December: double miles for frequent fliers who go from Geneva to Athens, Belgrade, Gothenburg, London, Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Marrakesh, Oslo, Porto, Prague, Stockholm, Nice or Barcelona.

Easyjet said last week it is adding new destinations from Geneva, where it remains the largest airline, following on the heels of Swiss’s new destinations from the city for this winter. It made a point of noting that it’s not just adding flights on existing routes but by adding Rochelle in France and Belgrade in Serbia.

Zurich isn’t being overlooked, of course, and the latest there is that airline Helvetic will offer direct flights from Zurich to Bordeaux starting in the summer of 2014.