Zurich Airport (IATA: ZRH, ICAO: LSZH), also known as Kloten Airport, is Switzerland's largest international airport, and the principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. The airport is owned by Flughafen Zürich AG, a company quoted on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Major shareholders include the canton of Zurich, with 33.33% of the shares, and the city of Zurich, with 5% of the shares. No other shareholder has a holding exceeding 5%.^[1] Skyguide is responsible for all Air Traffic Control for Zurich.

The airport is located 13 kilometres (8 mi) north of downtown Zurich, in the municipalities of Kloten, Rümlang, Oberglatt, Winkel and Opfikon, all of which are within the canton of Zurich.^[2]

History

The first flight abroad from Switzerland was on July 21, 1921, but the decision to begin the search for an acceptable location for a major airport wasnt started until 1943 inside the Canton of Zurich. The site in Zurich was chosen in 1945 by the federal government and sold 655 hectares of Kloten Ordnance Depot to the Canton of Zurich. Thus the Canton of Zurich had control of the airport. The construction of the airport began the next year.^[3]

The first flights off the west runway were not until 1948. The celebration of the airports opening was held in 1953, with a large air show and ran for three days. The first expansion of the airport was submitted in 1956, however, the budget for the expansion was not approved by the Swiss Government until 1958 and the expansion was completed in 1961. The airport was again submitted and approved for renovation in 1970, and Terminal B was completed in 1971. The first signs of noise mitigation for the airport were in 1972, when a night-time curfew was enacted, as well as in 1974 when new approach routes were introduced. Runway 14/32 was opened in 1976, and 16/34 began renovation.^[3]

The noise of aircraft became an issue and a noise charge was instituted in 1980, and in 1984, an agreement was made regarding arrivals and departures to the airport via German airspace. The next largest event for the airport was in 1999, when the Parliament of the Canton of Zurich approved privatization of Zurich Airport. It was not until 2000, that Unique was appointed as the new airport operator. A treaty was signed in 2001, regarding the limitation of flights over Germany. Negotiations have been under way since 2003 about the procedures and noise pollution over Germany and Switzerland.^[3]

Structure

In 2003, Zurich Airport completed a major expansion project in which it built a new parking garage, a new midfield terminal, and an automated underground train to move passengers between the existing terminal complex and the new terminal. In November 2008, Unique Company announced a complete renovation and rebuild of the old fingerdock 'B' structure. The visitor terrace will be temporarily closed during construction, but airport officials announced that a terrace will be included in the new structure. Terminal building "E" is connected to the main terminal building by an underground short ride on the Skymetro. During the ride endearing sounds of the Swiss Alps can be heard, which usually surprise or shock new passengers.

Access

Zurich Airport railway station (German: Bahnhof SBB Flughafen Zürich) is located underneath the terminal. There are trains to many parts of Switzerland; frequent S-Bahn Zürich services on the lines S2 and S16 and of the Glattalbahn (Zurich tram routes 10 and 12), plus direct InterRegio and InterCity services to Winterthur, Bern, Basel, Brig, St. Gallen, Lucerne (German: Luzern) and Konstanz in Germany. It also has EuroCity services to Munich in Germany. By changing trains at Zürich Hauptbahnhof most other places in Switzerland can be reached in a few hours.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Other facilities

Swiss International Air Lines has an office on the property of Zurich Airport and in Kloten, consisting of the Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie buildings.^[12][13] Swiss World Cargo has its head office in the Alpha and Bravo buildings.^[14][15] Swiss Private Aviation has its head office in the Swiss complex.^[16] Swiss European Air Lines and Swiss AviationTraining, subsidiaries of Swiss, are also headquartered on the airport property.^[17][18]

Edelweiss Air has its head office in the Edelweiss Air Operations Center (OTC) on the airport grounds.^[19] gategroup has its head office on the airport property.^[20] Helvetic Airways has its head office on the grounds of the airport in Kloten.^[21] The corporate offices for Swissôtel are located in the Prioria Business Center on the property of Zurich Airport and in Kloten.^[22][23]

When Swissair existed, its head office was at Zurich Airport and in Kloten.^[24][25] The head office was in proximity to the main airport facilities.^[25] In 1985 Crossair was headquartered in Kloten.^[26]

Traffic

The airport lost a lot of traffic when Swissair shut down its operations. Since Lufthansa took over its successor Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), traffic has started growing again. There are three runways on in operation and runway 14/32 is a unidirectional runway as it sits to the far north outskirts of the field. Zurich Airport handled 24.34 million passengers in 2011.^[27]

References

External links

• Zurich Airport (Official Site)
• Unique (Flughafen Zürich AG) airport operators