Zurich airport boss: USA travel is booming – passenger numbers continue to rise!

Zurich airport boss: USA travel is booming – passenger numbers continue to rise!

Zurich Airport, an important hub for passenger and cargo traffic, recorded a significant increase in passenger numbers in 2024. This emerges from an interview with Lukas Brosi, the airport's CEO. Brosi is confident about the demand for trips to the USA and expects the desire to travel to continue in the second half of 2025.

Current trends show that passenger numbers remain stable over the course of the year, which shows no signs of an impending slowdown. Brosi highlights that an extensive construction site is being worked on at the airport to create more space for travelers, shops and restaurants. This is seen as a necessary measure to meet growing demands.

Growth in passenger numbers

In 2024, 8% more passengers traveled through Zurich Airport compared to the previous year. Passenger volumes initially got off to a slow start, but exceeded the pre-crisis level in the months of May, September, October and December. More than 110,000 passengers were counted on several peak days. What is particularly striking is the development of the intercontinental market, which grew by 7% and now accounts for a quarter of passengers.

The market segments show different developments: the local market was 2% below the pre-crisis volume, while the transfer market, which accounts for 30% of total traffic, recorded growth of 1% compared to 2019. The North American destinations are particularly popular, as they exceed pre-crisis volumes by 8%. In comparison, the Middle East fell to 88%, largely due to the ongoing conflict in the region.

Market developments in air traffic

The analysis of passenger volumes shows that Swiss has a significant share of traffic at 52%, followed by Edelweiss Air at 10%. Interestingly, EasyJet has overtaken Eurowings and Lufthansa for the first time since 2019, with a market share of 2%. However, the Lufthansa Group remains dominant with a total deployment of 67% and transported 95% of transfer passengers.

The number of flight movements increased less than the number of passengers, resulting in an annual seat occupancy rate of around 81%. On average, 136 passengers were on board per flight movement, an increase of six passengers compared to 2019. However, there was a 6% decline in flight movements in the general aviation sector compared to the previous year.

Development in freight transport

A positive aspect of the airport development is the increased cargo volume, which grew by 15%. Air freight accounts for 70% of total freight volume, but remains 9% below pre-crisis levels. A pleasing detail is that 97% of air cargo on passenger aircraft was transported as belly cargo. Despite a 13% increase in demand for road freight compared to pre-crisis levels, air freight development has been constrained by a lack of scheduled freight capacity.

Overall, the positive development in both passenger and freight traffic speaks for Zurich Airport's strong position, which continues to act as an important player on the international market. The coming months will show whether the trend will continue and how the ongoing construction work will influence future developments. Further information can be found at fuw.ch and report.flughafen-zuerich.ch.