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Do you want to fly again after the crisis?
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Passenger numbers collapse in March
The corona virus pandemic caused a drop in passenger numbers at Zurich Airport in March. Overall, the number of travelers dropped by 63.2 percent to 890,000. Overall, the number of flights fell by 49.5 percent year-on-year to 11,135 take-offs or landings, as Zurich Airport announced on Tuesday. On average, there were only 97.6 passengers on a plane. That is over a fifth less than a year ago. Only 56.5 percent of the seats were occupied, 19 percentage points less than twelve months ago. The dive continued in the first two weeks of April. The number of flights and passengers dropped by over 95 percent compared to the same period last year.
From passenger fees to parking space rents: Zurich Airport is currently lacking virtually all revenue, as CEO Christoph Widrig says to 20 minutes. These are large sums: “We are currently losing a double-digit million amount every month.” Because the fixed costs can hardly be reduced – they are tied to the infrastructure.
The world’s largest groundhandler, Swissport, urgently needs money – the reserves should be used up within around two months, says CEO Eric Born on «NZZ on Sunday». Spokesman Christoph Meier says to 20 minutes that flight operations at the major Swiss national airports could hardly be ramped up after the crisis if such an important provider were to disappear. “Zurich Airport won’t work without Swissport,” says Hansjörg Bürgi, aviation expert at Skynews.ch. If Swissport ran out of money, there would be further losses – even if the airport itself could cope financially with the actual crisis. Swissport is currently in talks with investors, but is also hoping for federal support: “In this situation, you are happy to take any help you can get,” said Meier.
If large customers slip into bankruptcy, this can have serious consequences for the airport. This is shown by the example of Flybe: The British airline, which had already been hit, had to start the crisis Filing bankruptcy. Not only are financial losses expected, but the GMB union even warned that some airports – such as Southampton, where almost all Flybe flights were operated – may have to close completely. Zurich Airport is in a slightly better position here, says Bürgi. The Lufthansa Group, which operates the majority of the flights in Zurich, should survive the crisis. And: “Zurich is an important pillar of the Lufthansa infrastructure – the airline will not ignore the airport after the crisis.”
Zurich Airport is the largest shopping center in Switzerland. Although this is an attractive location for retailers, it is also an expensive one. The shops that are now inevitably closed will be all the more hit. “Zurich Airport has to worry that rents will still be paid now,” said Bürgi. This applies not only to dealers, but also to other companies that are currently rented from Zurich Airport and are affected by the lockdown.
CEO Widrig considers a rapid recovery in the industry to be unrealistic. It is more likely that a recovery will take place after a few months at a lower level and in some areas. He therefore assumes that international travel will be affected for a longer time. Aviation expert William Agius at the ZHAW is even less optimistic: “It can be assumed that it will take two to three years after the end of the crisis for air traffic to be back to the level it was before the crisis.” Zurich Airport therefore still has to be prepared for a bumpy business. In addition, according to the Iata, the airlines will try to boost demand again in the first phase after the crisis with particularly low prices – this would make it difficult for everyone involved to build up new reserves. And there should be further bankruptcies, says Agius: “A lot of airlines will not survive in the medium term.”
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