Zurich Airport traffic up 7.9 % in February as hub prepares for record summer

Zurich Airport AG released its key traffic figures for February 2026 on the evening of 11 March. The hub handled 2,195,690 passengers last month, a year-on-year rise of 7.9 %. Local travellers accounted for 70 % of the total, while the transfer share inched up to 29.8 %. Aircraft movements also grew, climbing 3.8 % to 18,784 take-offs and landings. Commercial revenue mirrored the rebound in demand: total retail and F&B turnover reached CHF 43.1 million, up 4.9 % on the same period in 2025. Air-side sales were the main driver (+10.3 %), reflecting strong duty-free spending by long-haul travellers, whereas land-side takings slipped slightly on ongoing construction work in the landside passenger zone. For Swiss-based corporates the numbers matter because Zurich is the country’s primary inter-continental gateway. A busier schedule means better connection options for head-office staff heading to Asia-Pacific and the Americas, but it also puts pressure on immigration queues and ground-transport capacity at peak times. Travel managers are already warning of limited hotel availability near the airport during this year’s summer and autumn holidays, when high-traffic days are expected to top 120,000 passengers. The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) has confirmed it will deploy additional e-gate lanes from June to ease Schengen border formalities ahead of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) go-live in April. Companies running group moves or large meetings in Zurich should factor in slightly longer arrival and baggage-collection times until the upgrade is complete. With volumes trending above the airport’s own forecast of 33 million passengers for 2026, capacity constraints—not demand—are likely to be the main pain-point for internationally mobile staff and their relocation suppliers in the months ahead. Keeping bookings flexible and allowing extra buffer time for immigration formalities is therefore advisable.