Financial outlook

The forecast for the current financial year is still surrounded by a great deal of uncertainty, with passenger volumes in 2021 being primarily dependent on the point at which international travel picks up again. Flughafen Zürich AG is well placed to take advantage of the recovery when it comes: an advantageous passenger mix with a high proportion of travellers flying within Europe and to tourist destinations and a robust Swiss economy constitute favourable conditions.

As well as aviation revenue, commercial revenues remain under pressure for 2021. Thanks to additional income from the Circle, revenue from real estate proved to be extremely stable during the crisis and is set to grow slightly in 2021. A speedier recovery is expected in the case of revenue from international business activities as this is more dependent on domestic travel in the respective markets and will therefore recover more quickly.

Flughafen Zürich AG has taken extensive measures on the cost and investment side. Significant cuts to operating costs – excluding expenses for construction projects – were achieved over the past year. The company expects it will be possible to retain around half of these reductions during the recovery phase. Around 50% of the passenger volume of 2019 is needed to return to profits and generate a positive free cash flow again.

Investment at the Zurich base will amount to approximately CHF 200–220 million this year. As regards investment at subsidiaries abroad, the project in Noida, India is the most significant. If construction starts this year as scheduled, this will add a maximum of approximately CHF 100 million in investments.