Stranded in Zurich: An Airbus A380 from Emirates from Dubai.Image: Keystone
Airlines such as Emirates and Etihad are flying to Switzerland’s largest airport again, but there are still many spontaneous cancellations. The airport’s business hardly suffers from this: it expects new record numbers.
Mar 10, 2026, 7:44 p.mMar 10, 2026, 7:44 p.m
Wherever an Airbus A380 lands, aircraft fans are ready with their cameras. At Zurich Airport they have plenty of time to photograph the largest passenger aircraft in the world. Because of the attack by the USA and Israel on Iran and the subsequent attacks by Iran on the Gulf states, an Emirates example is on a stand in Zurich in anticipation of more peaceful times.
It is unclear when the airline will fly again. Emirates currently does not have use for the A380: capacity at its home airport in Dubai is limited because of the threat of Iranian drones in the United Arab Emirates. They have killed three people there in the past few days.
An A350 from Qatar airline from the country of the same name and a Boeing 787 from Etihad from Abu Dhabi have also been stranded at Zurich Airport for a few days. The companies from the crisis region would occasionally fly to Zurich again, said airport boss Lukas Brosi on Tuesday at the presentation of the annual figures. But this happens with reduced capacity. The situation remains “dynamic”. For example, a flight to Dubai had to be canceled at short notice on Monday evening.
Impact on business is small
It is unclear when the stranded aircraft will be picked up. According to Brosi, the airport is accommodating the affected companies by waiving part of their parking fees. He is also accommodating to passengers – for example, if a flight is canceled due to the crisis and the traveler’s car has to stay in the parking garage longer than planned.
It is not yet possible to estimate what impact the conflict will have on business, said Brosi. The influence shouldn’t be too great. Last year, flights to the crisis region accounted for around 5 percent of the passenger volume at Zurich Airport. Even if the most important airline at Zurich Airport, Swiss, has suspended all flights to Dubai until March 15th and all flights to Tel Aviv until April 2nd: the business with European flights and those to North America remains significantly more important for the largest Swiss airport.
Airport boss Lukas Brosi expects a new passenger record for 2026.Image: keystone
For this year, the airport is expecting further passenger growth of 2 to 3 percent to over 33 million travelers. It would be a new record after the record was broken in 2025 with 32.6 million travelers. Last year there was also a record for consolidated earnings: it rose by 6 percent to 346.5 million francs.
There are several reasons for this. Income from flight operating fees increased by 6 percent to 612 million francs. Rental income, for example from the large Circle development, and business with international investments also developed positively. The airport has a stake in ten airports, mainly in South America, with a majority in most of them. He also recently received the operating license for his largest foreign project to date, the new Noida Airport in the south of Delhi in India.
If everything goes according to plan, it will open in the next few weeks. In the first phase, it will handle around 12 million passengers per year. At the end of the 40-year concession period there should be up to 70 million. Noida will not make a major contribution to profits this year, on the contrary. Due to financing costs and depreciation, the airport expects a decline in consolidated profits. In the future, the investment will help to increase earnings and diversify the airport’s business.
A million is invested every day
After investing 716 million francs last year – including 500 million in Switzerland – Zurich Airport is planning to spend around 450 to 500 million francs this year, including 350 to 400 million francs at the Zurich location. Since its listing 25 years ago, the airport has invested an average of one million francs in Zurich every day, said Brosi. 35,000 employees work at the airport. It is one of the largest workplace centers in Switzerland and an important export hub: 1,200 tons of air freight leave the country’s largest airport every day.
Because the number of passengers is increasing, the airport is also reducing fees for airlines by 10 percent in October. This increases competitiveness even further, said CFO Kevin Fleck when asked by CH Media. However, he does not expect an onslaught of low-cost airlines, for which Zurich has often been too expensive (with the exception of Easyjet and Eurowings). Because they often only fly to an airport again when they receive incentives – i.e. when the fees for them are significantly reduced or even waived completely.
Shareholders also benefit from the good business performance. The dividend is to be increased from 5.70 to 8.50 francs per title. The airport’s largest shareholders are the canton of Zurich with 33 percent plus one share and the city of Zurich, which owns 5 percent. Thanks to the dividends, the state treasury will be increased by a total of over 100 million francs.