# Current development of flight passengers per year

A map of a former edition of the Atlas of Switzerland, the national atlas published by ETH Zurich. It opens only in the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS, not in the web atlas; see the links below.

- Map: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/current-development-of-flight-passengers-per-year/
- Short title: Flight passengers: current development
- Map id: 559
- Categories: Traffic and Communication › Air traffic › Flight passengers
- Keywords: Air traffic, Transport
- Published: 2018-03-08
- Last revised: 2024-08-30
- Content language: English
- Other languages: [Deutsch](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/de/thema/aktuelle-entwicklung-der-flugpassagiere-pro-jahr.md), [Français](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/fr/theme/evolution-actuelle-de-passagers-aeriens-par-an.md), [Italiano](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/it/tema/sviluppo-attuale-dei-passeggeri-aerei-per-anno.md)

## Description

Scheduled and charter flights are by far the most important area of civil aviation in terms of passenger traffic and the volume of freight transported. In 2019, Swiss airports recorded a total of 58.6 million passengers (local and transfer passengers) on scheduled and charter flights. While the number of flight movements for scheduled and charter flights has declined by 13% since 2000, the passenger volumes have increased by around 70%. The reasons for these contrary developments are larger planes and higher seat load factors. The growth is solely attributable to scheduled flights (+88%); on the other hand, the passenger volumes of charter flights have fallen very sharply from around 3.5 million to 0.5 million (-86%).
The passenger volumes for the three Swiss international airports, which form the main proportion, have developed in disparate ways between 2000 and 2019. In Zurich, the figures rose at a high level by 41% from 22.5 million to 31.5 million, while they doubled in Geneva (from 7.7 million to 17.8 million) and in Basel-Mulhouse (from 3.7 million to 9.1 million).

Swiss airports recorded a total of 16.5 million arriving and departing passengers (local and transfer passengers) in scheduled and charter traffic in 2020. This means that the passenger volume in 2020, which was heavily affected by the Covid 19 pandemic, fell by 42 million or 72% compared to 2019. The last time values as low as in 2020 were recorded was in the 1980s. The number of aircraft movements also fell sharply in 2020: the total of 166,758 registered take-offs and landings represents a drop of 64% compared to the previous year.

The most important Swiss travel destinations in 2016 were mainly in Europe. From Zurich, the largest number of passengers flying on scheduled and charter flights went to London/Heathrow (1.18 million) and Berlin/Tegel (1.163 million). Occupying third and fourth place are Amsterdam (0.974 million) and Vienna (0.937 million), followed by Düsseldorf (0.748 million.). For Geneva Airport, London/Heathrow also took top place with 1.063 million passengers. This is followed by London/Gatwick (0.827 million), another British airport, meaning more passengers travel to London from Geneva than from Zurich. Paris/Charles de Gaulle (0.725 million) is only placed third in the travel destinations. The third international airport Basel-Mulhouse does not achieve this level of figures; most passengers are recorded as travelling to Amsterdam (0.447 million) and Barcelona (0.355 million).

## Sources

- FSO (2017): [Linien- und Charterverkehr](https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/mobilitaet-verkehr/querschnittsthemen/zivilluftfahrt/linien-charterverkehr.html)
- INTRAPLAN (2015): Entwicklung des Luftverkehrs in der Schweiz bis 2030 – Nachfrageprognose
- Wikipedia contributors (2017): [Liste der größten Verkehrsflughäfen](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_gr%C3%B6%C3%9Ften_Verkehrsflugh%C3%A4fen). In: Wikipedia
- FSO (2021): [Zivilluftfahrt im Jahr 2020: Linien- und Charterverkehr sowie General Aviation](https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/mobilitaet-verkehr.html)

## Data sources

- BAZL (2010): Fluganlagen der Schweiz
- BAZL (2023): Statistiken 2023 BAZL
- BAZL (2024): Statistiken 2024 BAZL
- BFS (2023): [Schweizerische Zivilluftfahrtstatistik 2022 - 5. Passagiere](https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/mobilitaet-verkehr/querschnittsthemen/zivilluftfahrt.assetdetail.26705611.html)
- FOCA (2017): [Flugplätze](https://www.bazl.admin.ch/bazl/de/home/sicherheit/infrastruktur/flugplaetze.html)
- FOCA (2021): Standard Zeitreiheauswertung für die Jahren 2000 bis 2020
- FSO (2018): [Verkehrsleistung auf den Flugplätzen](https://www.bazl.admin.ch/bazl/de/home/politik/statistik/verkehrsleistung-auf-den-flugplaetzen.html#1926793598)

## Data owners

- [Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA)](http://www.bazl.admin.ch)
- [Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO)](https://www.bfs.admin.ch/)

## Citation

The terms of use ask to name the Atlas of Switzerland and the data owners, and to keep the source references in exports, screenshots and embeds. Cite the map as:

> Atlas of Switzerland (2024): Current development of flight passengers per year. ETH Zürich. Map data © FOCA, FSO. https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/current-development-of-flight-passengers-per-year/

## Links

- Map page, with the description and sources and a button that opens the map in the desktop atlas: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/current-development-of-flight-passengers-per-year/
- Open the map in the desktop atlas (version 4), where it is installed: adsglobe://map/559
- Download of the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/ads4-download/

## Related maps

- [Scheduled flights: passengers transported on international flight routes](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/scheduled-flights-passengers-transported-on-international-flight-routes.md) (id 509, former edition, desktop atlas only)
- [Charter flights: passengers on international flight routes](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/charter-flights-passengers-on-international-flight-routes.md) (id 511, former edition, desktop atlas only)
- [Number of flight passengers by type of transport](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/number-of-flight-passengers-by-type-of-transport.md) (id 553, former edition, desktop atlas only)
- [Number of flight passengers according to mode of transport](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/number-of-flight-passengers-according-to-mode-of-transport.md) (id 554, former edition, desktop atlas only)
- [Historical development of local/transfer passengers](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/historical-development-of-localtransfer-passengers.md) (id 558, former edition, desktop atlas only)
- [Number of flight passengers per month](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/number-of-flight-passengers-per-month.md) (id 557, former edition, desktop atlas only)
- [Number of flight passengers according to day of the week](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/number-of-flight-passengers-according-to-day-of-the-week.md) (id 552, former edition, desktop atlas only)
- [Number of flight passengers according to time of day](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/number-of-flight-passengers-according-to-time-of-day.md) (id 151, former edition, desktop atlas only)

For the use and citation of maps and data, see the [terms of use](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/terms-of-use/).