Zurich Airport again records more passengers in February
Published: Tuesday, Mar 12th 2024, 19:30
Updated At: Tuesday, Mar 12th 2024, 19:30
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In February, significantly more passengers traveled through Zurich Airport than in the previous year. At around 2.02 million, the airport even recorded almost the same number of passengers as in the same month in 2019, i.e. before the pandemic.
Overall, 16.4% more passengers traveled through Zurich Airport than in the same month last year, as Zurich Airport announced on Tuesday evening. However, it should be noted that there was an additional operating day in February 2024 due to the leap year, the company emphasized.
At just under 1.4 million, just over two thirds were local passengers. According to the communiqué, their number rose by 12.4 percent. Almost 650,000 passengers, or just under a third of all passengers, transferred to another aircraft in Zurich. The number of transfer passengers increased by a good fifth.
According to the press release, three quarters of all passengers were traveling within Europe, with the remainder traveling intercontinentally. Of these, the largest proportion (7.4%) were traveling to or from North America, followed by Asia (7.1%), the Middle East (6.2%), Africa (3.6%) and Latin America (2.3%).
More flight movements, but lower seat occupancy
The number of aircraft movements in February was also higher than in the same month last year. The airport recorded a total of 17,764 take-offs and landings. This was 12% more than in the previous year, but only 90% of the level recorded in February 2019.
On average, 130 people were seated on each aircraft, 1% more than in the previous year. Nevertheless, the aircraft were less well utilized on average: Seat occupancy fell by one percentage point to 77%.
Visitors to the airport spent more money in the company's stores and restaurants during the month under review. Compared to the previous year, so-called commercial turnover increased by 9.9 percent to 41.9 million francs.
Increase in sales for airport stores
The stores in the publicly accessible area of the airport, i.e. on the "landside", increased by 5.6% and generated sales of CHF 19.2 million. In the "airside" area, which can only be accessed with a boarding pass, sales rose much more strongly at 13.8 percent. The airport recorded a turnover of 22.7 million there.
All in all, commercial sales of 41.9 million were higher than in the year before the pandemic, at 105.7 percent of the level in February 2019, according to the press release.
Freight below pre-crisis level
The airport handled 34,053 tons of freight in February. This represents an increase of 7 percent compared to the same month last year. However, compared to February 2019, i.e. before the coronavirus pandemic, 6 percent less freight was handled.
The increase was due to a strong rise in air freight, which increased by 20.5% to just under 24,000 tons. At the same time, truck freight, the so-called road feeder service, fell by 15 percent to just over 10,000 tons. Letter mail increased by 14.1 percent to 897 tons.
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