SWISS profit edges higher despite rising fuel costs

SWISS lifted operating profit to CHF 421.4 million in the first nine months of 2026, a gain of CHF 10.2 million from the same period last year. The modest increase came as the airline faced higher fuel costs, with demand for air travel and a strong cargo business helping to absorb the pressure.

Turnover grew 5.3% to CHF 4.38 billion between January and September. The results, announced on Tuesday, show revenue rising more quickly than operating profit. SWISS, a subsidiary of Germany’s Lufthansa Group, said fuel costs had eaten into the benefit of stronger business.

The figures leave the airline with a narrow profit advance, rather than a broad improvement in earnings. Chief Financial Officer Dennis Weber said measures to cut costs and improve efficiency had prevented profits from falling, while warning that more work is needed to improve profitability on a lasting basis.

Operating profit rose by CHF 10.2 million, reaching CHF 421.4 million for January to September. That puts the equivalent figure for the same period last year at CHF 411.2 million. The gain is real but limited, a distinction reflected in Weber’s assessment of the company’s cost programme.

Revenue advanced by CHF 220 million to CHF 4.38 billion, based on the reported 5.3% increase. Higher turnover did not translate into a comparable jump in operating profit as higher fuel bills absorbed part of the improvement. SWISS credited strong demand for air travel and encouraging cargo performance with helping to counter those costs.

Weber said the airline’s early cost-saving and efficiency measures were increasingly taking effect and had stopped profit from declining. He added that those steps alone were not enough to secure a sustainable improvement in profitability. For SWISS, the nine-month result therefore pairs a small profit increase with a clear warning about the limits of current savings.

Kerosene now costs twice as much as it did at the start of 2026, SWISS said, as prices approached the peak levels seen when the Iran war broke out. The airline expects the fuel-cost burden in the fourth quarter to be greater than in the third.

That outlook puts further pressure on the business after fuel costs already limited the effect of stronger passenger and cargo demand on profit. The company expects high prices to weigh on its results through the final quarter and into the coming year.

SWISS said the rising kerosene bill makes further cost reductions and process improvements across the company more important. The airline has presented those efforts as necessary to support continued commercial success. Its nine-month figures show why: turnover increased, but operating profit edged up by only CHF 10.2 million. Fuel prices will remain a central cost challenge as the airline moves into the final months of the year.

SWISS expects fuel costs to weigh on earnings into 2027, extending the pressure beyond the final quarter of 2026. The airline said fourth-quarter costs would be heavier than in the third quarter as kerosene prices continued to rise.

The company plans to keep pursuing cost reductions and process improvements across its operations. Its chief financial officer said the measures already introduced have helped prevent a decline in profits, but have not yet produced the lasting profitability improvement SWISS wants.

The first nine months show the balance facing the airline: demand for air travel and cargo business supported turnover, which grew to CHF 4.38 billion, while higher fuel costs restrained the increase in operating profit. SWISS ended September with profit slightly ahead of last year, but its outlook points to continued pressure on costs as it works to protect commercial performance.