Edelweiss Air

Is Edelweiss Air safe?

Yes. Edelweiss has flown holidaymakers out of Zurich since February 1996 without a fatal accident or the loss of an aircraft, and it is overseen by Switzerland's FOCA under the same EASA rules as the rest of Europe. We score it 85. That is above its sister airline Swiss (82), which carries a 2024 crew death, and level with Germany's Condor. What holds Edelweiss back is its fleet, much of it older than the average Lufthansa Group jet, and a run of serious incidents at Zurich that Swiss investigators have not yet closed.

Who flies Edelweiss flights?

Edelweiss Air AG flies under its own Swiss air operator certificate with WK flight numbers and the ICAO code EDW. It belongs to the Lufthansa Group, which counts it inside the Swiss segment: together the two airlines flew 163,908 flights in 2025. Edelweiss's share is much smaller, which matters for the accident score. A clean record over a modest number of flights is good, but it says less than the same record over millions.

Swiss and Lufthansa own some of the jets Edelweiss flies. The SUST preliminary reports list Swiss as owner of the A340 HB-JMF and Lufthansa as owner of the A320 HB-JJL, with Edelweiss as the operator. Events count on this page because Edelweiss crews fly the aircraft under the Edelweiss certificate.

What incidents has Edelweiss had?

Nothing close to a crash, but a pattern worth knowing about at Zurich.

• 17 August 2021, Zurich. An A320 bound for Heraklion rejected its take-off at about 80 knots after a parking-brake warning. The main wheels locked and the tyres were destroyed. The SUST classed it as a serious incident.
• 27 October 2023, Zurich. An A320 bound for Faro, with 106 passengers, swerved sharply left of the runway centreline just before decision speed, and the crew rejected the take-off. The SUST's preliminary report rates it a serious incident. Blick reported in December 2024 that an internal Edelweiss review pointed to the first officer pressing the wrong rudder pedal; the SUST has not published a cause.
• 2 March 2023, Phuket. After a 10-hour flight from Zurich, engineers found that a slat access panel had fallen off an A340 and damaged an engine. The aircraft had just come out of a maintenance check, and screws were reported missing from the panel.
• 6 April 2024, Zurich. The A340 on flight WK24 to Cancun sank back towards the runway just after lifting off, then climbed away. Edelweiss blamed a tailwind gust.
• 11 November 2025, over Saudi Arabia. An A340 on its way to Muscat had a fire in engine 1. The crew shut it down and flew on to Muscat on three engines. The SUST rated it a serious incident.

The 2016 near collision on approach to Zurich, when a motor glider with its transponder off crossed in front of an Edelweiss A330, was the glider pilot's error, according to the SUST final report. We do not count it against Edelweiss. Two of the three open cases date from 2021 and 2023, and the SUST is slow to publish; that delay keeps the incidents score at 74.

How old is the Edelweiss fleet?

Older than most Lufthansa Group airlines. The long-haul fleet is three A340-300s, more than 20 years old and owned by Swiss, plus four Airbus A350-900s, which joined in 2025; two more are due by the end of 2026. Short-haul flights use 15 A320ceos. Six A320neos are due between 2026 and 2028.

Edelweiss does not publish an average age. The Lufthansa Group as a whole averaged 14.4 years at the end of 2025, and Edelweiss sits above that.

Flying Edelweiss: what to check

• On long-haul, the booking shows the type. The A350 is the newest aircraft Edelweiss flies; the A340 is the oldest. Both are safe, but the A340 has had more technical diversions.
• Expect a three-engine landing to be routine, not a crisis. The A340 is built to fly on three engines, and Edelweiss crews have done it several times since 2019.
• Check the flight number. WK flights are Edelweiss. Some Swiss LX flights are flown by Helvetic Airways or wet-lease partners; the "operated by" line tells you which certificate you fly under.

How we scored it

The accident record (92) and Swiss oversight with IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary (92) carry Edelweiss. The fleet (68) is its weakest factor, because the A340s and A320ceos far outnumber the A350s. Incidents score 74 for the open Zurich investigations and the 2023 maintenance error, and the long-haul leisure network scores 84. Overall 85.