Plans for a new airline dedicated to the winter snowsports market were announced in Switzerland last week. PowdAir is due to begin operations in December, offering direct flights from six UK airports as well as Rotterdam and Brussels to Sion, capital of the Valais canton.

The services will be a boon for skiers, dramatically cutting transfer times to some of Switzerland’s top resorts. The runway at Sion is just two miles from the closest ski lift, at Veysonnaz. Verbier is 10 miles away as the crow flies, Zermatt is 24 miles. PowdAir plans to use a 109-seat Fokker 100 aircraft and fly five days per week, from Thursday to Monday. Seats will cost between ￡99 and ￡150 one-way, including ski carriage.

Details of the airline were released at a meeting between airline executives and regional tourism officials at Sion Airport on Thursday. “We are in talks with local tour operators and resorts to put in place infrastructure for skiers’ onward travel from Sion,” said Rob Stewart, a spokesman for PowdAir. “When skiers get to Sion there needs to be an efficient way of getting to the resorts rather than having to book a taxi.”