For now Swiss stays Swiss as the airline scotches rumours that it’s ready to merge with Germany’s Lufthansa

Both companies shares rose following the news. The company made a pre-tax profit of 20 million euros in the final quarter of 2004 although the full year showed large losses.

Swiss chief Christoph Franz told reporters that the priority was to complete rebuilding the brand, “We managed to turn a negative operative cash flow into positive figures during the course of the year. Roughly a year ago the press stated we were ‘burning’ one million Swiss frances daily, these figures prove them wrong.” Lufthansa apparently still has eyes for Swiss and informal talks have taken place between the two. But not all conditions for a takeover have yet been met, according to a source close to the discussions. Swiss walked away from a tie-up with Lufthansa two years ago. Many observers still see Swiss as a takeover target. The airline is often portrayed as stuck between larger, stronger players and more successful low-cost carriers. But Swiss still has more work to do to lower its cost base before it can hope to take-off.

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