Swiss, Thai open skies plan signed

SWITZERLAND and Thailand have agreed to an open skies policy that will allow unlimited cargo services between the two countries.Thailand’s foreign minister, Kasit Piromya, and the Swiss ambassador, Christine Schraner Burgener, signed the agreement last week that will replace the previous 1984 version, which limited the number of air cargo flights.There are currently 15 direct weekly flights each way between Thailand and Switzerland.Meanwhile, Swiss WorldCargo benefited from the modest economic recovery seen in the fourth quarter of the year. Cargo load factor (by volume) for 2009 as a whole stood at 70.7 per cent, a decline of 6.9 per cent on the 77.6 per cent of the previous year.