Swiss regional airline Baboo, based in Geneva, and Darwin Airline, headquartered at Lugano Airport in southern Switzerland, an-nounced in late November that they have decided to merge. In fact, the move looked more like a takeover by Darwin of a competitor plagued by a notorious lack of profits.
Before the merger, Baboo announced a stringent restructuring and cost-saving program involving the return of its three Embraer E190s to their lessor and a staff reduction of almost one third–54 out of a total of 167. Baboo operated as an affiliate of Lebanese investment group M1 Travel, which also served as the lessor of all its aircraft. The move left Baboo with a fleet reduced to just the two 74-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprops it acquired in 2007. It dropped services to Athens and London City, leaving 10 destinations in Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain and Romania on the winter schedule.
