SWISS has appointed Alain Chisari as the new head of its Swiss WorldCargo airfreight division. He will take up his new duties on 1 October 2024. Chisari, who is 52, has held various SWISS and Lufthansa Group management positions since he joined SWISS in 2008. He is presently serving as the ITA Implementation Officer for the Lufthansa Group. As the new Head of Swiss WorldCargo he succeeds Lorenzo Stoll, who has decided to pursue a new professional path outside the airline industry. 

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) has appointed Alain Chisari as its new Head of Swiss WorldCargo. In his new capacity Chisari will bear overall responsibility for SWISS’s entire airfreight division of some 300 employees worldwide and for developing and implementing the division’s business strategy.  

Chisari, who is 52, succeeds Lorenzo Stoll, who left Swiss WorldCargo at the end of July. After 11 years with SWISS, Lorenzo Stoll has decided to pursue a new professional path in a different business segment, and will be taking over as CEO of a Swiss company that is active in the healthcare sector.

Alain Chisari joined SWISS in 2008 having already acquired 12 years of industry experience with other airlines outside the Lufthansa Group. He initially served as Head of Leisure Sales, before moving within SWISS to become Head of External Relations & Alliances. In 2013 he moved to SWISS’s sister airline Edelweiss, where he spent the next five years as Chief Commercial Officer and a Member of the Management Board. After a further five years serving first as the Singapore-based Vice President Area Management Asia & Pacific for the Lufthansa Group and subsequently in the Group’s Munich-based Area Management EMEA, he assumed his present function as the Lufthansa Group’s Implementation Officer for Italian airline ITA Airways one year ago.

“Alain Chisari brings a vast range of experience of the airline business both within and beyond the Lufthansa Group to his new position,” says SWISS Chief Commercial Officer Heike Birlenbach. “Thanks to his various international activities, he is also excellently connected throughout our industry. I’m convinced that he will continue to successfully develop our air cargo business, and I look forward to working with him. I also offer Lorenzo Stoll my warmest thanks for all his service and commitment. He steered our airfreight division with great success, not least through the highly challenging pandemic times; and he and his Swiss WorldCargo team have consistently made a key contribution to our company’s favourable earnings of the past few years.” 

Alain Chisari is a Swiss-Italian dual national. He holds an Executive Master’s Degree in General Management from the SGMI Institute of Management St. Gallen, and speaks fluent English, French, German, Italian and Swedish.

About Swiss WorldCargo

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is Switzerland’s largest air carrier. With one of Europe’s most advanced and carbon-efficient aircraft fleets, SWISS is a premium airline that provides direct flights from Zurich and Geneva to keep Switzerland connected with Europe and the world. Its Swiss WorldCargo division offers an extensive range of airport-to-airport airfreight services for high-value, time-critical and care-intensive consignments. As The Airline of Switzerland, SWISS embodies its home country’s traditional values and is dedicated to delivering the highest product and service quality. The company has also committed to the ambitious climate goals of halving its 2019 net carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and making its operations entirely carbon-neutral by 2050, particularly by promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuels. SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group and is also a member of Star Alliance, the world’s biggest airline network.

From 1 January 2025, Swiss WorldCargo will include the rising costs of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) due to regulatory environmental requirements in the price index of its existing Airfreight Surcharge (ASC). Starting in 2025, a statutory SAF blending quota of initially two percent will apply for departures from European Union (EU) countries. Countries outside the EU are also planning to introduce or have already introduced mandatory SAF blends.

How does the Airfreight Surcharge work?

The ASC was introduced in 2015. It is a combined surcharge to cover rising costs beyond Swiss WorldCargo’s control. So far, these have mainly been related to rising prices for fuel, currency, air/traffic control and security prices.

The calculation system for said surcharge relies on a flexible and fair system that works as follows: Swiss WorldCargo monitors the development of additional costs for the ASC using a standardized index calculation system. If the indexed costs justify an adjustment of the ASC up or down, the cargo carrier can decide to adjust the ASC rate. The ASC is added to the net price of each shipment.

In some countries, regulations do not allow surcharges or only allow them to be applied in certain  ways. In addition, market-specific requirements are considered to ensure a balanced relationship between ASC and net tariffs. This may result in different country-specific surcharge levels.

Systematic climate targets

As a leading international cargo carrier, our mission is to enable global business and connect economies and markets in a more sustainable way. Together with the Lufthansa Group, our company has set itself ambitious climate protection targets. SWISS and Swiss WorldCargo aim to achieve a neutral CO2 balance by 2050 and to halve the company’s net CO2 emissions by 2030 compared to 2019. To achieve these goals, the company is focusing in particular on investing in an innovative and sustainable fleet, continuous optimization of flight operations, and the leverage of SAF, included in our ‘Green Choice’ Add-on Service, to make cargo transportation more sustainable in order to achieve effective climate protection.

The ‘Green Choice’ Add-on Service enables customers to transport their shipments with Swiss WorldCargo in a more sustainable way by combining SAF with high-quality climate protection projects and documenting this investment with emissions-reduction certificates.

SAF is a key technology to achieve more sustainable flying and is essential for the energy transition in aviation. However, the aviation industry cannot drive forward a competitive SAF market on its own. A significant increase in the use of SAF is only possible if its supply volumes and availability increase substantially as quickly as possible and the prices fall accordingly. Biogenic SAF is currently available in small quantities and 3-5 times more expensive than fossil fuel. A targeted policy strategy is needed for companies and airlines to be able to meet the volumes for the blending rates and beyond.

Background information

Individual flights are not fueled with pure SAF. As a so-called "drop-in" fuel, SAF is compatible with fossil kerosene and can be easily added to it. Before being transported to the airport, SAF is blended with fossil aviation fuel and then fed into the airport infrastructure. The Lufthansa Group ensures that the amount of SAF required to offset individual CO2 emissions is fed into the Lufthansa Group's flight operations within six months of purchase. Over its entire life cycle, SAF made from biogenic residues has a carbon footprint that is approximately 80 percent lower than that of conventional kerosene made from fossil crude oil.

About Swiss WorldCargo

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is Switzerland’s largest air carrier. With one of Europe’s most advanced and carbon-efficient aircraft fleets, SWISS is a premium airline that provides direct flights from Zurich and Geneva to keep Switzerland connected with Europe and the world. Its Swiss WorldCargo division offers an extensive range of airport-to-airport airfreight services for high-value, time-critical and care-intensive consignments. As The Airline of Switzerland, SWISS embodies its home country’s traditional values and is dedicated to delivering the highest product and service quality. The company has also committed to the ambitious climate goals of halving its 2019 net carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and making its operations entirely carbon-neutral by 2050, particularly by promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuels. SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group and is also a member of Star Alliance, the world’s biggest airline network.

Swiss WorldCargo, the airfreight division of Swiss International Air Lines, has recently received IATA’s Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma) re-certification, which applies again to the entire airline and organization. The re-certification was awarded following a thorough audit operated by IATA’s recognized independent auditors.

As the temperature-controlled handling of pharmaceutical products continues to be increasingly challenging due to global regulatory conditions, IATA created CEIV Pharma alongside aviation’s stakeholders and regulators to address the industry’s need for safer, more secure, compliant and efficient pharmaceutical product handling across the entire air cargo supply chain.

In 2018, the IATA authorities awarded Swiss WorldCargo a full CEIV Pharma certification, recognizing the airfreight division’s globally consistent and high-quality pharmaceutical handling processes to safeguard product integrity. In 2021, Swiss WorldCargo was successfully re-certified, becoming part of a small, select group of airlines who has earned this recognition and holds a full CEIV Pharma certification.

Swiss WorldCargo’s expertise in transporting pharmaceuticals has been recognized in the air cargo industry since many years. Achieving an IATA CEIV Pharma re-certification for the second time provides evidence of the division’s commitment to quality and safety, and its ability to adhere to the highest compliance and regulatory requirements.

“I am very proud of Swiss WorldCargo being awarded a full CEIV Pharma re-certification again, which speaks for our continuous efforts to maintain the highest standards of quality, reliability, and safety, which ultimately result in the peace of mind of our customers around the world. We are happy to cover an important role in the air cargo industry, by transporting pharmaceuticals globally every day through a solid commitment to the critical safeguarding of the products’ integrity”, says Lorenzo Stoll, Head of Cargo at Swiss International Air Lines.

With the pharmaceutical sector being one of the key driving forces of the Swiss economy, the air cargo industry identifies the need to establish a solid network of certified pharmaceutical trade lanes that meets consistent high-quality standards and ensures the products’ integrity. In addition to Swiss WorldCargo becoming fully CEIV Pharma re-certified for the second time in 2024, Swiss WorldCargo’s Zurich hub is double certified: GDP compliant by Swissmedic and CEIV Pharma certified.

About Swiss WorldCargo

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is Switzerland’s largest air carrier. With one of Europe’s most advanced and carbon-efficient aircraft fleets, SWISS is a premium airline that provides direct flights from Zurich and Geneva to keep Switzerland connected with Europe and the world. Its Swiss WorldCargo division offers an extensive range of airport-to-airport airfreight services for high-value, time-critical and care-intensive consignments. As The Airline of Switzerland, SWISS embodies its home country’s traditional values and is dedicated to delivering the highest product and service quality. The company has also committed to the ambitious climate goals of halving its 2019 net carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and making its operations entirely carbon-neutral by 2050, particularly by promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuels. SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group and is also a member of Star Alliance, the world’s biggest airline network.

Swiss WorldCargo serves the Italian city with 28 weekly flights using narrowbody Airbus A320/321 and Embraer aircraft. WFS, a member of the SATS Group, expects to handle annually 2,000 tonnes of cargo in Milan Malpensa for the airfreight division of SWISS. Additionally, Swiss WorldCargo’s customers will continue to benefit from road feeder services connecting Milan and Zurich 6 days a week.

Swiss WorldCargo has been a longstanding customer of WFS across its global network. At present, WFS provides cargo handling services for SWISS’ airfreight division at key airport stations in North & South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Its decision to appoint WFS as its air cargo ground handling partner in Milan Malpensa was based on WFS’ modern cargo handling facilities, the size of its operation, and its ability to provide dedicated solutions for Swiss WorldCargo’s specialised high-value, care-intensive and temperature-sensitive shipments.

“We’re glad to extend our already solid collaboration with WFS to another key station of our cargo operations, Milan Malpensa. With a significant number of weekly flights and tonnes of cargo transported between Milan and Zurich, we need an air cargo ground handling partner that knows our business well and can operate to the high-quality standards that we provide our customers globally. WFS can do that,” says Christian Wyss, Head of Cargo Offering Development & Steering at Swiss International Air Lines.

“We are proud that Swiss WorldCargo has extended its air cargo ground handling partnership with WFS to Milan Malpensa. The quality of Swiss WorldCargo’s products and services is highly respected across the industry, and we value the airfreight division’s confidence in our ability to meet these high standards,” said Massimiliano Introini, WFS’ Managing Director Italy. “In support of our service offering, as well as investing in our warehouse terminal, we have implemented digitalised processes in our warehouse and will be adding extra equipment to enhance our ULD and Pharma Handling capabilities.”

About Swiss WorldCargo

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is Switzerland’s largest air carrier. With one of Europe’s most advanced and carbon-efficient aircraft fleets, SWISS is a premium airline that provides direct flights from Zurich and Geneva to keep Switzerland connected with Europe and the world. Its Swiss WorldCargo division offers an extensive range of airport-to-airport airfreight services for high-value, time-critical and care-intensive consignments. As The Airline of Switzerland, SWISS embodies its home country’s traditional values and is dedicated to delivering the highest product and service quality. The company has also committed to the ambitious climate goals of halving its 2019 net carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and making its operations entirely carbon-neutral by 2050, particularly by promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuels. SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group and is also a member of Star Alliance, the world’s biggest airline network.

About WFS

Founded in 1984, WFS – a member of the SATS Group – is the world’s largest air cargo logistics provider and one of the leading providers of ground handling services with annual revenues of €2 billion. As a combined company, SATS and WFS create an Americas-Europe-APAC network with a global footprint of more than 215 cargo and ground handling stations in 27 countries, covering trade routes responsible for more than 50% of global air cargo volume. For more information, please visit www.wfs.aero

About SATS Group

SATS Ltd. (SATS) is a global leader in gateway services and Asia’s pre-eminent provider of food solutions. With heartfelt service and advanced technology, we connect people, businesses, and communities seamlessly through our comprehensive gateway services for customers such as airlines, cruise lines, freight forwarders, postal services and eCommerce companies. Using innovative food technologies and resilient supply chains, we create tasty, quality food in sustainable ways for airlines, foodservice chains, retailers, and institutions.

Fulfilling our purpose to feed and connect communities, SATS delights customers in over 215 locations and 27 countries across Asia Pacific, the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas. SATS has been listed on the Singapore Exchange since May 2000. For more information, please visit www.sats.com.sg

SWISS has recently secured its first-ever validation under Europe’s EMAS provisions for its environmental management system for the 2023 reporting year. SWISS, including Swiss WorldCargo, has also earned the international ISO 14001 certification for environmental management systems. As a result, SWISS will now be publishing an annual environmental report to further underline its commitment to sustainable and responsible business management.

For the first time, the environmental management system of Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), including Swiss WorldCargo, has been validated under the strict criteria of Europe’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and has also been certified under the ISO 14001 international norm. The system is based on the continuous improvement principle and puts a particular focus on the main environmental impacts of the company, and of its business and operations.

EMAS is a voluntary-membership framework, established by the European Union to help companies continuously improve their environmental performance. EMAS validation requires the company to meet all the standards of the ISO 14001 international environmental management norm and satisfy further demands regarding transparency and continuous improvement. EMAS is regarded as the world’s most demanding environmental management system.

In the corresponding EMAS audit, the entire SWISS organization was evaluated by the external environmental verifiers on the extent to which sustainability is anchored within the company’s organization and management, as well as on the overarching collaborations across all staff levels on the ground and in the air. The successful audit of SWISS’ systematic environmental data collection activities and of the management of its environmental objectives applies to the company’s Zurich and Geneva operating sites for the 2023 reporting year and extends to its airfreight division Swiss WorldCargo. The audit was conducted by state-accredited environmental verifiers in the second quarter of 2024. 

“I’m very glad that our consistent sustainability efforts at SWISS and Swiss WorldCargo are being validated with the EMAS quality seal. One of our key responsibilities remains to always operate to the highest standards and this applies to the sustainability field as well, where we constantly strive to progress and act for a more sustainable air cargo industry” says Lorenzo Stoll, Head of Cargo at Swiss International Air Lines.

As part of its broader commitment on the sustainability front and in the context of its EMAS validation, SWISS will now be publishing an annual report on its environmental performance. In taking this step, SWISS is further underlining its commitment to sustainable and responsible business management. In addition to detailed information on the company’s environmental management system, the SWISS 2023 Environmental Report presents key corporate, transport and environmental facts and figures. The report is available for study or download at swiss.com.

About Swiss WorldCargo

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is Switzerland’s largest air carrier. With one of Europe’s most advanced and carbon-efficient aircraft fleets, SWISS is a premium airline that provides direct flights from Zurich and Geneva to keep Switzerland connected with Europe and the world. Its Swiss WorldCargo division offers an extensive range of airport-to-airport airfreight services for high-value, time-critical and care-intensive consignments. As The Airline of Switzerland, SWISS embodies its home country’s traditional values and is dedicated to delivering the highest product and service quality. The company has also committed to the ambitious climate goals of halving its 2019 net carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and making its operations entirely carbon-neutral by 2050, particularly by promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuels. SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group and is also a member of Star Alliance, the world’s biggest airline network.

Swiss WorldCargo is the first air cargo carrier with an offer incorporating pioneering, high-quality technological solutions to decarbonize aviation. The airfreight division of SWISS launches the premium option ‘Aviation Tech Pioneer’ that combines 20% CO₂ removal through the innovative technology of direct air capture (DAC) and 80% reduction through the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). This new option, added to the existing ones present in the cargo carrier’s portfolio under the Green Choice add-on service, is established in collaboration with the Swiss-based company Climeworks and is aimed to support scaling direct air capture technologies.

Sustainability is a core aspect of both SWISS and Swiss WorldCargo’s strategies, and partnerships in this area play an essential role in getting the company closer to its target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. Swiss WorldCargo recognizes the importance of accelerating key technologies and innovation to create a more sustainable future for the air cargo industry and takes action to ensure that significant partnerships are established to drive sustainability initiatives forward.

Swiss WorldCargo’s initiative builds on the carbon removal agreement to remove residual CO₂ emissions signed by SWISS and Lufthansa Group, that was announced in March 2024. Swiss WorldCargo now launches a pilot to integrate carbon removal in its customer offerings, with Climeworks, a Swiss-based leading company that offers high-quality carbon removal services to businesses and individuals. Climeworks provides a permanent solution to a persistent problem, by employing its pioneering direct air capture (DAC) technology to capture CO₂ from the air, which can then be stored permanently underground.

Direct air capture, a technology to permanently remove CO₂ from the air 

With its direct air capture technology, Climeworks is a global leader within the carbon removal field. DAC is a vitally important method of removing CO₂ directly from the atmosphere and storing it permanently underground. The airline sector will need to take advantage of both DAC and further negative-emission technologies if it is to achieve its ambitious carbon emission mitigation goals. Climeworks already operates the world’s two biggest DAC and storage facilities, which are located in Iceland, and has extensive growth plans. More information on Climeworks’ DAC technology is available in the graphic below. DAC technologies also offer a scalable means of procuring atmospheric CO₂ for use as a raw material in manufacturing the next generation of synthetic fuels, which are also known as Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). The use of such synthetic fuels is vital to the decarbonization of the airline sector as well. SWISS and the Lufthansa Group have long been industry pioneers in this field, driving the scale-up of these key fuel technologies.

Swiss WorldCargo’s new premium offering, for reducing CO₂ emissions along the supply chain 

As of today, Swiss WorldCargo’s customers have the possibility to choose the new premium offering, called the ‘Aviation Tech Pioneer’ package, to support driving sustainability initiatives forward through carbon removal with direct air capture (DAC), in combination with an investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF). In fact, thanks to this new offering, Swiss WorldCargo’s customers now have at disposal an option to not only help the scale-up of critical tech to reach net-zero in aviation, but also act on reaching their scope 3 emission reduction targets to support removing unavoidable emissions from the atmosphere.

With SWISS being Climeworks’ first airline partner, Swiss WorldCargo’s new premium offering reflects SWISS’ ongoing commitment to scale-up key defossilisation technologies. The new offering follows other ongoing initiatives at Swiss WorldCargo, such as investments in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), lightweight containers, and modern aircraft, and has the potential to pave the way for more sustainable practices in the aviation and logistics industries for the years to come.

“We’re excited to realize this first-of-a-kind pilot with Swiss WorldCargo. It serves as an inspiring example for how the aviation industry can accelerate the much-needed scale up of carbon removal within their own industry and beyond” states Laurent Müller, Director of Strategic Partnerships Management of Climeworks.

“At Swiss WorldCargo we’re very glad to be bringing our division one step closer to its environmental goals by establishing this important collaboration. Thanks to Climeworks’ innovative technology, we’re able to offer our customers a premium solution to mitigate the impact of their operations on the environment” says Lorenzo Stoll, Head of Cargo at Swiss International Air Lines Ltd.

About Swiss WorldCargo

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) is Switzerland’s largest air carrier. With one of Europe’s most advanced and carbon-efficient aircraft fleets, SWISS is a premium airline that provides direct flights from Zurich and Geneva to keep Switzerland connected with Europe and the world. Its Swiss WorldCargo division offers an extensive range of airport-to-airport airfreight services for high-value, time-critical and care-intensive consignments. As The Airline of Switzerland, SWISS embodies its home country’s traditional values and is dedicated to delivering the highest product and service quality. The company has also committed to the ambitious climate goals of halving its 2019 net carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and making its operations entirely carbon-neutral by 2050, particularly by promoting the use of sustainable aviation fuels. SWISS is part of the Lufthansa Group and is also a member of Star Alliance, the world’s biggest airline network.

About Climeworks

Climeworks is a global leader in carbon dioxide removal (CDR) as a service via direct air capture (DAC) technology, empowering companies to advance their net-zero roadmaps and fight global warming. Founded by engineers Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher in 2009, Climeworks is on a journey to climate impact at scale with integrity at its core and a focus on the highest-quality permanent removals. Climeworks is spearheading the DAC industry globally, with the world’s first and to date largest DAC facility combined with storage installation in commercial operation, modular CO₂ collectors designed for scalability and facilities running exclusively on clean energy. Its growing customer base numbers over 160 companies, including multinationals such as Microsoft, BCG, UBS and Swiss Re. At Orca, Climeworks’s DAC facility in Iceland, the CO₂ is permanently removed from the air by capturing it and geologically storing it for thousands of years with Climeworks’s underground mineralization partner Carbfix. The CDR services delivered from Orca are verified by independent third party DNV.