Zürich Airport

Zürich Airport Flughafen Zürich
IATA: ZRH – ICAO: LSZH
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Flughafen Zürich AG
Serves	Zürich, Switzerland
Location	Kloten, Rümlang, Oberglatt, Winkel and Opfikon[1]
Hub for	Belair Edelweiss Air Germania Flug Helvetic Airways Swiss Global Air Lines Swiss International Air Lines
Focus city for	Air Berlin Vueling
Elevation AMSL	1,416 ft / 432 m
Coordinates	47°27′53″N 008°32′57″E / 47.46472°N 8.54917°E / 47.46472; 8.54917Coordinates: 47°27′53″N 008°32′57″E / 47.46472°N 8.54917°E / 47.46472; 8.54917
Website	zurich-airport.com
Map
ZRH Location of airport in Switzerland
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 10/28 8,202 2,500 Concrete 14/32 10,827 3,300 Concrete 16/34 12,139 3,700 Concrete
Statistics (2015)
Passengers 26.281.228[2] Passengers change 14-15 3.2% Aircraft movements 265.095 [3] Movements change 14-15 0.02%
Source: List of the busiest airports in Europe

Zürich Airport (German: Flughafen Zürich, IATA: ZRH, ICAO: LSZH), also known as Kloten Airport, is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zürich, Switzerland's largest city, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest of the country. The airport is located 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of central Zürich, in the municipalities of Kloten, Rümlang, Oberglatt, Winkel and Opfikon, all of which are within the canton of Zürich.^[1][4]

History

Early years

A Swissair Douglas DC-8 at Zurich Airport in 1965

The first flight abroad from Switzerland was on July 21, 1921. In the early years of aviation, the Dübendorf Air Base, located some 8 km (5.0 mi) to the south-east of Zürich Airport, also served as the city's commercial airfield. The need for a dedicated commercial facility lead to a search for a location for a replacement for Dübendorf. In 1945, the federal parliament decided that Zürich was to be the site of a major airport, and sold 655 hectares (1,620 acres) of the Kloten-Bülach Artillery Garrison (German: Artillerie-Waffenplatz Kloten-Bülach) to the Canton of Zürich, giving the canton control of the new airport. The construction of the airport began the next year.^[5][6]

The first flights off the west runway were not until 1948. The new terminal opened in 1953 with a large air show that ran for three days. In 1947 the airport handled 133,638 passengers on 12,766 airline flights; in 1952, 372,832 passengers on 24,728 airline flights. The first expansion of the airport was submitted in 1956, but the budget for the expansion was not approved by the Swiss Government until 1958 and the expansion was completed in 1961.^[5][7]

On 18 February 1969, an El Al aircraft was attacked, whilst being prepared for takeoff, by four armed members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The attack was repulsed by the aircraft's security guard, resulting in the death of one of the terrorists, whilst the Boeing 720's co-pilot subsequently died of his injuries.^[8]

On 18 January 1971, an inbound Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Il-18D approached Zurich Airport in fog below the glideslope. It crashed and burst into flames, 0.7 kilometres (0.43 mi) north of the airport, when both left wingtip and landing gear contacted the ground. Seven crew members and 38 passengers were killed.^[9]

The airport was again submitted and approved for renovation in 1970, and Terminal B was completed in 1971. The first signs of noise mitigation for the airport were in 1972, when a night-time curfew was enacted, as well as in 1974 when new approach routes were introduced. Runway 14/32 was opened in 1976, and 16/34 began renovation.^[5]

1980 onwards

The noise of aircraft became an issue and a noise charge was instituted in 1980, and in 1984, an agreement was made regarding arrivals and departures to the airport via German airspace. The next largest event for the airport was in 1999, when the Parliament of the Canton of Zürich approved privatization of Zurich Airport. It was not until 2000, that Flughafen Zürich AG, trading under the brand Unique was appointed as the new airport operator. The brand Unique was dropped in favour of Zurich Airport and Flughafen Zürich in 2010.^[5][10]

On the 2 October 2001, a major cash-flow crisis at Swissair, exacerbated by the global downturn in air travel caused by the September 11 attacks, caused the airline to ground all its flights. Although a government rescue plan permitted some flights to restart a few days later, and the airline's assets were subsequently sold to become Swiss International Air Lines, the airport lost a lot of traffic. Since Lufthansa took over Swiss International Air Lines in 2005, traffic has started growing again.

On 18 October 2001, a treaty was signed between Germany and Switzerland regarding the limitation of flights over Germany. Under the terms of this treaty, any incoming aircraft after 22:00 had to approach Zürich from the east to land on runway 28, which, unlike the airport's other runways, was not equipped with an instrument landing system. A month later, at 22:06 on the 24 November, an inbound Crossair Avro RJ100 using this approach in conditions of poor visibility crashed into a range of hills near Bassersdorf and exploded, killing 24 of the 33 people on board. The flight had originally been scheduled to land on runway 14 before 22:00, but it was subject to delay and was therefore diverted to runway 28.^[5][11]

In 2003, Zurich Airport completed a major expansion project in which it built a new parking garage, a new midfield terminal, and an automated underground people mover to link the midfield terminal to the main terminal. In November 2008, a complete renovation and rebuild of the old terminal B structure was announced. The new terminal B opened in November 2011, and provides segregated access to and from aircraft for Schengen and non-Schengen passengers.^[12] Zurich Airport handled 25.5 million passengers in 2014, up 2.5 percent from 2013.^[13]

On 18 February 2015, Etihad Regional ceased two thirds of its scheduled routes without further notice, amongst them all services from Zürich except the domestic service to Geneva.^[14][15][16] Etihad Regional blamed the behavior of competitors, especially Swiss International Air Lines as well as the Swiss aviation authorities for their failed expansion.^[15]

Corporate affairs

The airport is owned by Flughafen Zürich AG, a company quoted on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Major shareholders include the canton of Zürich, with 33.33% plus one of the shares, and the city of Zürich, with 5% of the shares. No other shareholder has a holding exceeding 3%.^[17] From 2000 until 2010, Flughafen Zürich AG used the brand name Unique.^[18]

Infrastructure

Terminal A for domestic and Schengen destinations

Central terminal building

Terminal complex

The airport has three airside piers, which are known as terminals A, B and E (also signposted as Gates A, B/D and E). These are linked to a central air-side building called Airside Center, built in 2003. Alongside the Airside Center, the ground-side terminal complex named Airport Center comprises several buildings, and includes airline check-in areas, a shopping mall, a railway station, car parks, and a bus and tram terminal. All departing passengers access the same departure level of the Airside Center, which includes duty-free shopping and various bars and restaurants, via airport security. They are then segregated between passengers for Schengen and non-Schengen destinations on the way to the gate lounges, with the latter first passing through emigration controls. Arriving Schengen and non-Schengen passengers are handled in separate areas of the Airside Center and reach the Airport Center by different routes, with non-Schengen passengers first passing through immigration controls.^[19][20]

The three airside terminals are:

• Terminal A, containing gates prefixed A, which opened in 1972, and it is used exclusively by flights to and from destinations inside the Schengen Area, including domestic flights within Switzerland. It takes the form of a finger pier, directly connected at one end to the Airside Centre.^[19]
• Terminal B, containing gates prefixed B and D, which originally opened in 1971 but was reopened in November 2011, having been extensively rebuilt over a period of three years. Like terminal A, it takes the form of a finger pier directly connected at one end to the Airside Centre. As rebuilt, it is designed to handle both Schengen and non-Schengen flights at the same gates. Each such gate has two numbers, one prefixed B and the other D, but with different passenger routes to and from the gates in order to keep the flows of Schengen and non-Schengen passengers separate.^[19][21]

International Terminal E

• Terminal E, containing gates prefixed E, also known as the midfield terminal or Dock E, is a stand-alone satellite terminal located on the opposite side of runway 10-28 from the Airside Center, and situated between runways 16/34 and 14/32. It is entirely used by non-Schengen international flights and became operational and was opened on September 1, 2003. It is connected to the Airside Center by the Skymetro, an automated underground people mover.^[19]

Runways

Zurich Airport has three runways: 16/34 of 3,700 m (12,100 ft) in length, 14/32 of 3,300 m (10,800 ft) in length, and 10/28 of 2,500 m (8,200 ft) in length. For most of the day and in most conditions, runway 14 is used for landings and runways 16 and 28 are used for takeoffs, although different patterns are used early morning and in the evenings.^[22]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Zürich Airport offers scheduled and charter flights to 196 destinations in 62 countries around the world.^[23]

^1 Royal Jordanian's flight to Amman make a stop in Geneva. The airline, however, does not have eighth freedom rights to transport passengers solely from Zurich to Geneva.

Cargo

Statistics

Top destinations

Statistics of the Zurich Airport from 1982 to 2014 incl. passengers, transfer passengers, flights handled and freight in metric tons

Zurich Airport with the Swiss Alps visible in the background

Interior view of the landside area

Aircraft lined up at Terminal A

Swiss International Air Lines Airbus A330-300 and Airbus A340-300 at Zurich Airport

Helvetic Airways Fokker 70 on final approach at Zürich Airport

Busiest intercontinental routes at Zurich International Airport (2014) - Eurostat^[58]

Rank	City	Passengers
1	Dubai	496,113
2	New York	450,067
3	Singapore	401,118
4	Tel Aviv	376,779
5	Bangkok	286,563
6	Newark	265,338
7	Miami	196,491
8	Chicago	187,596
9	Delhi	181,798
10	Mumbai	168,476
11	Tokyo - Narita	152,645
12	Hong Kong	149,770
13	San Francisco	145,702
14	Muscat	146,061
15	Los Angeles	143,439

Top airlines

Zurich Airport Airlines (2015)

rank	airlines	percentual
1	SWISS	54,6%
2	Air Berlin	5,5%
3	Edelweiss Air	4,6%
4	Germanwings	2,5%
5	British Airways	2,2%

Passenger development

Zurich Airport Passenger Totals 1950-2014 (millions)

Updated: 17 January 2016

Statistic Zurich Airport (2015)

month	passengers	passengers change 14\15	aircraft movements	movements change 14\15
December[59]	1,901,803	01.4%	19,787	00.0%
November[60]	1,894,773	04.2%	19,700	00.8%
October[61]	2,452,446	02.4%	23,498	01.3%
September[61]	2,460,946	03.1%	24,018	00.3%
August[62]	2,694,640	04.1%	24,833	00.7%
July[63]	2,673,965	05.7%	24,950	02.0%
June[64]	2,311,757	00.8%	23,604	01.3%
May[65]	2,297,316	06.2%	23,368	01.0%
April[66]	2,184,853	02.5%	21,478	01.2%
March[67]	1,988,825	02.6%	21,058	00.3%
February[68]	1,670,172	01.6%	18,303	00.5%
January[69]	1,749,732	02.1%	20,498	00.1%
Total:	26,281,228	03,2%	265.095	00,02%

Ground transportation

Zurich Airport railway station

Train

Zürich Airport railway station is located underneath the Airport Centre. The station has frequent Zürich S-Bahn services on lines S2 and S16, plus direct InterRegio, InterCity and Eurocity services to Basel, Bern, Biel/Bienne, Brig, Geneva, Konstanz, Lausanne, Lucerne, Munich, Neuchâtel, Romanshorn, St. Gallen and Winterthur. There are some 10 trains per hour to Zürich Hauptbahnhof, Zürich's main city centre station, with a journey time of between 10 and 15 minutes. By changing trains at Hauptbahnhof, most other places in Switzerland can be reached in a few hours.^[70]

Bus and tram

In front of the Airport Centre is the airport stop of the Stadtbahn Glattal, a light rail system that interworks with the Zürich tram system, together with a regional bus station. Both the bus station and light rail stop provide service to destinations throughout the Glattal region that surrounds the airport, with the light rail stop being served by tram routes 10 and 12. Tram route 10 also provides a link to Zurich Hauptbahnhof, albeit with a rather longer journey time than that of the railway.^[71]

Taxi

The airport is served by a fleet of dedicated airport taxis, which operate from taxi ranks in front of the arrival areas. Alternative chauffeur driven airport limousines can be arranged.^[72]

Car

The airport is served by the A51 motorway and other main roads, which link to the airports own road network. Drop-off areas are available by the Airport Centre whilst a total of over 1000 spaces are available in six car parks for short and long term parking. A car hire centre is located in the terminal complex.^[73][74][75]

Other facilities

The Circle, a complex intended to include a medical center, a conference center, shops, restaurants, offices and hotels, is under construction opposite the Airport Centre. The complex was designed by Japanese architect Riken Yamamoto, is currently under construction and planned for completion in 2018.^[76][77]

Several companies have their headquarters on or about the airport. These include Swiss International Air Lines,^[78] Swiss World Cargo,^[79] Swiss AviationTraining,^[80] Edelweiss Air,^[81] gategroup,^[82] Helvetic Airways,^[83] Swissôtel,^[84] and Rega.^[85] Other companies that were formerly based on the airport include Swissair^[86] and Crossair.^[87]

Accolades

World Travel Awards is an international jury of hospitality experts and peers that decided on awards presented to hotels, airports, airlines and other hospitality companies.
World Travel Awards has evaluated Zurich Airport the best European airport from 2004 to 2015, in according to various aspects, such as accuracy, entertainment, friendliness and punctuality.^[88]

See also

• Transport in Switzerland

References

External links

Media related to Zurich Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Accident history for Zurich Airport at Aviation Safety Network
• Aeronautical chart for Zurich Airport at SkyVector
• Current weather for Zurich Airport at NOAA/NWS

Airports in Switzerland Major international Basel Mulhouse Freiburg Geneva Zürich Minor international Bern Lugano Sion St. Gallen–Altenrhein Unscheduled Grenchen Lausanne Samedan