Like the rest of the industry, Zurich Airport experienced a pitch-black year with a “historic collapse in traffic”. Only around 8,3 million passengers flew via Zurich in 2020.

In the previous year it was 31,5 million. That would correspond to a decrease of a whopping 73,5 percent, reports the airport. The number of local passengers also fell. And that by 71,7 percent to 6,3 million. The average number of passengers per flight also fell: from 129,6 to 103,0. In 2020 there were a good 111.000 flight movements - a decrease of 59,6 percent compared to 2019. Swiss (49,5 percent) have the largest share, ahead of Edelweiss Air (8 percent) and Lufthansa (4,4 percent). In addition, the freight volume fell by 291.163 percent to 35,6 tons compared to the previous year.

“We look back on a very challenging and turbulent year. International travel came to a standstill at times. Nevertheless, Zurich Airport always remained open to ensure that Switzerland was connected to the world. Constantly changing travel regulations and quarantine rules lead to great uncertainty for both travelers and companies. For Swiss tourism as well as the Swiss economy, which is dependent on foreign trade, it is important that international travel can be planned again. We expect a slow and gradual recovery in international travel from mid-2021, ”says Stephan Widrig, Managing Director of Flughafen Zürich AG.