Traffic volumes Zurich

Significant increase in passenger volumes to 72% of pre-crisis level

In comparison with the previous year, passenger numbers more than doubled in 2022, notching up to 90,000 passengers per day at peak periods. Although still impacted by the pandemic at the beginning of the year, the number of passengers gradually rose over the reporting period. Passenger volumes in January of the year under review amounted to 42% and in December 2022 to 82% of the pre-pandemic level.

While the local market already experienced a clear upswing during the summer of 2021, the transfer market was only able to recover more strongly during 2022 as the number of flights increased and more transfer connections became available. The transfer rate in 2022 reached 28.7%, only 0.6 percentage points down from 2019. Especially during the last two months of the year, transfer rates of 34% and 32% respectively were higher than for quite some time.

Passenger volumes of home carrier SWISS accounted for 50.7% of the total volume for 2022. Edelweiss Air followed with a share of 9.8%, then Lufthansa with 2.5%, Chair with 2.2% and Turkish Airlines with 2.1%. In total, airlines belonging to the Lufthansa Group carried 67% of passengers in Zurich. SWISS and Edelweiss together accounted for almost 90% of transfer passengers in 2022.

In geographic terms, Europe was the main market, and the share came to 76.5%, just above the pre-pandemic level. Owing to strong demand for leisure travel to southern destinations, passenger volumes to Turkey, Greece and Portugal in particular were actually higher than before the crisis. By contrast, the numbers flying to Germany reached only around half that of 2019. In addition, from March all flights to and from Ukraine and Russia ceased altogether.

The share of intercontinental passengers recovered to 23.5%, in comparison with 17.8% the previous year and 26.0% before the crisis. Traffic to North America in particular saw a strong upturn, while passenger numbers for the Far East still languished 60% below pre-pandemic levels due to coronavirus travel restrictions continuing to be imposed in numerous countries.

High seat load

The number of flight movements for scheduled and charter flights increased more or less in line with the recovery in passenger numbers. The seat load factor in 2022 reached 77.1%, only marginally below that of 2019, and the average number of passengers per flight was 126.1. This is 16.4% up from the previous year and only slightly less than before the crisis.

At 16%, general aviation traffic was significantly higher than before the pandemic. Standing at almost 40% above 2019 levels, commercial business aviation in particular benefited in 2022. One reason was the lack of scheduled flights during the pandemic, made up for by business aviation wherever possible. This may prove to be the beginning of a long-term shift to some degree.

Stable freight volumes

Freight volumes remained much more stable during the crisis than passenger numbers and flight movements. In 2022, Zurich Airport handled 422,153 tonnes of freight, 64% of which was air freight and 36% road freight (road feeder service). Owing to the shortage of belly freight capacity, road freight increased more than air freight during the reporting year. The volume of road freight was 31% higher than prior to the crisis, while air freight was down 20%. Whereas 24% of air freight had been transported in freight-only flights during the previous year because of the crisis, in 2022 this had fallen to just 11%.

Key data