瑞士滑雪胜地将增加直飞航班

Plans for a new airline dedicated to the winter snowsports market were announced in Switzerland last week. PowdAir is due to begin operations in December, offering direct flights from six UK airports as well as Rotterdam and Brussels to Sion, capital of the Valais canton.

PowdAir不久前在瑞士宣布了专为冬季冰雪运动旅游市场开设新航线的计划。PowdAir预定今年12月正式投入运营，届时将提供从六家英国机场以及鹿特丹和布鲁塞尔直飞瓦莱州(Valais canton)首府锡永(Sion)的航班。

The services will be a boon for skiers, dramatically cutting transfer times to some of Switzerland’s top resorts. The runway at Sion is just two miles from the closest ski lift, at Veysonnaz. Verbier is 10 miles away as the crow flies, Zermatt is 24 miles. PowdAir plans to use a 109-seat Fokker 100 aircraft and fly five days per week, from Thursday to Monday. Seats will cost between ￡99 and ￡150 one-way, including ski carriage.

直航是滑雪爱好者的福音，大大缩减转机前往瑞士诸多顶级滑雪胜地的时间。锡永机场跑道距韦松纳滑雪场(Veysonnaz)最近的升降梯只有2英里，与韦尔比耶(Verbier)的直线距离为10英里，距采尔马特(Zermatt)也仅有24英里。PowdAir计划使用109座的福克100型飞机(Fokker 100)，每周飞五天（从周四至周一）执行直飞航线。单程票价（包括滑雪车在内）预定于99-150英镑之间。

Details of the airline were released at a meeting between airline executives and regional tourism officials at Sion Airport on Thursday. “We are in talks with local tour operators and resorts to put in place infrastructure for skiers’ onward travel from Sion,” said Rob Stewart, a spokesman for PowdAir. “When skiers get to Sion there needs to be an efficient way of getting to the resorts rather than having to book a taxi.”

航线的具体详情，会在PowdAir高管与锡永地区旅游局官员会议上宣布。“我们与当地旅行社以及滑雪场洽谈，为的是解决滑雪爱好者从锡永机场前往滑雪场的基础设施问题。”PowdAir发言人罗勃?斯图尔特(Rob Stewart)说。“滑雪爱好者在抵达锡永后，需要便捷前往滑雪场，而不是预定出租车。”

For the first winter season, flights will be operated by Trade Air, an existing Croatia-based airline. PowdAir will pursue its own Air Operator Certificate to enable it to run its own flights for the following season.

对于今年的首个冬季旅游季，直航将由克罗地亚的Trade Air航空公司承飞。PowdAir将继续申请航线经营许可证(Air Operator Certificate)，以便在随后的冬季旅游季自己负责直飞航线。

For tourism businesses, the flights present a chance to reverse the recent decline in UK visitors to an area that once relied on them. Marcus Bratter, chief executive of the Kings Group of hotels and restaurants in Verbier, welcomed the news, saying a decade ago Britons made up 80 per cent of his guests — a figure that has now fallen to 20 per cent.

对于旅游业界来说，直航有望扭转近几年英国游客前往该地区的颓势（该地区曾极度依赖英国游客）。韦尔比耶地区酒店与餐饮业集团Kings Group总经理马库斯?布拉特尔(Marcus Bratter)对直航消息大为点赞，并说10年前，英国游客曾占到旗下集团客源量的80%——如今该比例已大幅降至20%。

Sion currently operates as both a military base and civilian airport, but a reorganisation of the Swiss Air Force is due to see the fighter jets moved elsewhere, prompting the airport to focus on passenger flights.

锡永机场目前是军民合用，但瑞士空军(Swiss Air Force)的重组将安排军用飞机迁往他处，从而使机场专司民航业务。

Swiss International Airlines has this month trialled flights between London Heathrow and Sion, but has yet to confirm whether it will operate the route regularly next winter.

瑞士国际航空公司(Swiss International Airlines)上月试营了从伦敦希思罗机场(London Heathrow)至锡永的直飞航班，但迄今仍未明确今冬是否开通定期航班。