UPS will celebrate its 20th anniversary in Switzerland on 27 January marking two decades ofoperating in the country under its own brand.
The parcel operator already started its business activities in Switzerland in 1986 through ajoint venture with Freight Air Parcel Service. UPS took over the joint venture in December 1988 andre-named the company as UPS Switzerland in January 1989.
The first Swiss UPS branch was opened in Basel where initially 33 employees handleddeliveries. In 1994, the company introduced its first typical UPS delivery vehicles. Within 20years, the company has expanded its network to six locations in the country along with 570 staffand a fleet of 175 vehicles.
Regarding its air network, UPS launched its first Fokker F27 flight in 1988 to connectSwitzerland from Basel via its European air hub in Cologne with the rest of the world. Today, thereare three flights going from Switzerland to Cologne with an F27 operating from Geneva and an ATR72flying from Basel and Zurich respectively.
Since 1992, UPS has also provided customers with an electronic interface with Swiss customsauthorities and since 2003 customers can send parcels to different destinations in one country asone single shipment to ease customs clearance processes.
“We can be very proud when looking back at the 20-year history of our company in Switzerland.Since the market entry, our philosophy has been to provide the best service and reliability to ourcustomers and to constantly improve our services. Special thanks go to our employees applying thesestandards each day from anew through their professional appearance and the quality of their work,”said Nando Cesarone, Country Manager UPS Switzerland.
