Mr. Widrig, how big is the financial burden for Zurich Airport due to the coronavirus crisis?
The entire industry is suffering from the current situation. Flughafen Zürich AG is also severely affected. Income tends towards zero, at the same time we have very high fixed costs that cannot be reduced and that we bear in order to enable the international connection and logistics supply that is now so essential for Switzerland.
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Do you want to fly again after the crisis?
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How big is the loss?
We’re currently losing tens of millions a month.
There are still some flights …
It is necessary that airports and airlines can maintain a minimum connectivity – return flights, ambulance operations and the air freight transport important for supply chains must continue to be possible. We have a deficit so that airport partners – like airlines – can ensure that the infrastructure continues to function.
Are you hoping for government support?
State bridging financing for airport partners who get into serious liquidity constraints is in the interest of all of Switzerland. This ensures that the temporary crisis does not result in structural, sustainable damage for the regional and nationaleconomy. However, we currently do not assume that we ourselves will have to make use of the bridging funding provided by the federal government.
Swissport is currently in a very bad shape. What would be the impact for Zurich Airport if Swissport slipped into bankruptcy?
Swissport is a systemically relevant company for Swiss aviation. For this reason, we welcome the state bridging financing, which we believe should not only be aimed at the airlines, but at all systemically relevant companies such as ground handling companies, catering companies or air freight service providers.
You are now looking for a new head of crisis management. Did someone jump off because of the crisis?
No, this termination is not due to the current situation. Our Head Emergency Management has decided to take on a new challenge outside of the company.
Passenger numbers collapse in March
The number of local passengers in Zurich fell in March 2020 by 60.6 percent to 656,399, as Zurich Airport announced on Tuesday. The proportion of transfer passengers was 26 percent – a decrease of 5.0 percentage points compared to the previous year. The number of transfer passengers dropped by 69.2 percent to 230,910.
The number of flights fell by 49.5 percent year-on-year to 11,135 take-offs or landings. The average number of passengers per flight was 97.6 passengers, down 21.6 percent from the previous year. Seat occupancy fell by 19 percentage points to 56.5 percent in March.
A total of 25,491 tons of freight were handled at Zurich Airport in March. This corresponds to a decline of 39.6 percent compared to the same month in the previous year.
In the first two weeks of April, the number of flight movements and the number of passengers fell again significantly, currently below 5 percent of the previous year.
