Spot the difference - the new look

Ahead of Monday's shareholders meeting, the airline released a statement saying its full year losses would be less than originally thought.

Analysts think shareholders will be guided to expect a loss of about 700m Swiss francs (�301m; $440m) in 2002, rather than the 1.1bn Swiss francs loss set out in the airline's budget.

However, Swiss also warned that losses for the April to June period would exceed the 190m Swiss francs lost in first three months of this year.

Business improving

The costs of expanding its longhaul business would drive up losses, the airline said.

But it said it expected gains to filter through from cost cuts and improved passenger yields.

Shareholders are also anticipating an update on the national airline's efforts to become a fully-fledged member of the OneWorld airline alliance which would enable code-sharing and ease passenger transfers.

Analysts remain sceptical about whether Swiss can prove competitive on European routes, which are increasingly crowded with budget options.

"Certainly the budget carriers are a certain degree of competition but compared to other countries the budget airlines do not have the possibilities in Switzerland like they have in Germany or the UK," Andre Dose, the chief executive of Swiss, told the BBC's World Business Report.

"We have a certain competition on some routes from Easyjet but overall our market wants a high quality product," he added.

Although many staff have agreed to a wage freeze, the airline has yet to settle a pay dispute with its pilots.

Shareholders will be asked to endorse the rebranded carrier's change of name to Swiss International Air Lines.