Zurich and Geneva airports continue to recover from the coronavirus setback
Published: Tuesday, Jan 16th 2024, 12:10
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Air traffic in Switzerland has also continued to recover from the coronavirus slump. Passenger numbers at the airports in Zurich and Geneva continued to climb in 2023. The return to pre-coronavirus crisis levels is not far off.
People around the world are traveling more again and they are allowed to do so again without restrictions in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. This is reflected in the statistics from Switzerland's two largest airports.
Last year, 28.9 million passengers traveled through Zurich Airport. This was 28 percent more than in 2022, as the airport operator announced on Monday evening. It had only expected 26 million passengers at the start of 2023. In Geneva, the number of passengers grew by 17 percent to 16.5 million last year, according to a statement on Tuesday.
Almost fully recovered from the slump
This means that the gap to the figures from before the coronavirus crisis has narrowed significantly: Passenger numbers at both Zurich-Kloten and Geneva Cointrin were only 8% below the 2019 figures. Both airports expect a full recovery in 2025.
The pandemic was a drastic time for the travel industry and airports due to travel restrictions and closed borders. In the first year of the pandemic in 2020, passenger numbers in Zurich fell by almost three quarters to 8.3 million after the record year of 2019, and in Geneva by almost 70 percent to 5.6 million.
More landings and take-offs - air freight weakens
The trend in flight movements is similar to that of passengers: A total of 247,456 take-offs and landings were recorded at Zurich Airport in 2023. This is 14 percent more than in 2022 and 10 percent less than in 2019. In Geneva, the number of movements increased by 5.9 percent to 172,841, but fell short of the pre-coronavirus figure by 7 percent.
Business at the freight terminals was weaker in 2023 than a year ago. In Zurich, freight handling fell by 10% year-on-year to around 378,000 tons. In Geneva, the volume handled fell by 5.8% to 66,358 tons.
The operators of Geneva Airport primarily attributed this to the slower growth of the global economy. However, the reorientation of international trade flows and the associated shift of certain shipments to sea routes also led to the decline in air freight.
©Keystone/SDA
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