Economic importance of Zurich Airport
Zurich Airport is the largest national airport and the only intercontinental air traffic hub in Switzerland. Thus, it is of great economic and political importance.
With more than 200 direct flights to destinations all over the world, Zurich Airport ensures Switzerland's international connectivity. At the same time, Zurich Airport is a genuine hub for public transportation with excellent connections to local and long-distance destinations, be it by train, bus and tram.
Hub operations in collaboration with Swiss International Airlines offer direct flights, leaving Zurich bound for major cities in Europe and throughout the world on a daily basis. Zurich Airport thus guarantees excellent accessibility to the greater Zurich area as well as large parts of Switzerland and southern Germany. This important locational factor has played an important role in turning Switzerland and its neighbouring regions into a particularly attractive business location.
This degree of accessibility also has a positive impact on tourism in Switzerland. One third of all international visitors travel to Switzerland by plane. Tourists from distant growth markets value the direct connections and incorporate them into their travel plans. Without attractive direct flights, there is a risk that guests from abroad will stay away, with negative impact on value creation in the Swiss tourism sector.
However, Zurich Airport not only guarantees good accessibility for Switzerland, it is also an important business location in its own right. 280 companies are represented at Zurich Airport, employing more than 27,000 people in total.
The expansion, maintenance and operation of the entire infrastructure generates millions of Swiss francs worth of additional contracts and investments each year, which mostly benefit companies and people from the region. As a private company, Flughafen Zürich AG bears full responsibility for financing these non-subsidised investments, which average around CHF 1 million per working day.
Air freight is also important to Switzerland as a business location and to the Swiss economy. Zurich Airport is the most important air freight location in Switzerland and processes just under three-quarters of Switzerland's entire air freight, with these goods being transported almost entirely in the cargo hold of passenger aircraft.
Study on the economic importance of Zurich Airport
Flughafen Zürich AG last commissioned „Infras/BAK Basel“ in 2017 to conduct a study on the economic importance of Zurich Airport. Investigating the classic direct and indirect impact on employment and value creation, the study also looked at the relevance of Zurich Airport in terms of tourism, air freight and export, as well as at accessibility as a location factor.
A management summary of the study is available here:
- Management Summary Studie „Volkswirtschaftliche Bedeutung des Flughafens Zürich“, 2017 (German) (pdf, 0.77 MB)Document Management Summary Studie „Volkswirtschaftliche Bedeutung des Flughafens Zürich“, 2017
Following statements support the findings of the study:
In recent years, there have been many studies focusing on various economic and Swiss airport-related topics:
- Study „Monitoring the competitiveness of the Swiss aviation industry“, 2012 (German) (pdf, 1.36 MB)Document Study „Monitoring the competitiveness of the Swiss aviation industry“, 2012
- „Economic importance of Swiss civil aviation“, 2011 (German) (pdf, 1.94 MB)Document „Economic importance of Swiss civil aviation", 2011
- „Zurich Airport economic area“, 2011 (German) (pdf, 1.82 MB)Document „Zurich Airport economic area“, 2011
- „Air freight as a competitive factor for Switzerland as a business location“, 2010 (German) (pdf, 3.75 MB)Document „Air freight as a competitive factor for Switzerland as a business location“, 2010
- „National infrastructures within the federal network“, 2009 (German) (pdf, 4.88 MB)Document „National infrastructures within the federal network“, 2009