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DestinationsThe Swiss take the plane especially to travel to Europe
Four out of five people who took off from a Swiss airport last year at the destination of a European country. Spain is the most popular.
Mallorca, a very popular destination for the Swiss between April and October.
Imago/MisDid you take the plane last year and flew to Barcelona, London or Berlin? So you are part of the vast majority of Swiss who have done the same, according to the Federal Statistics Office which analyzed the habits of the Flights to the Swiss.
Verdict: 79% of people who took off from a Swiss airport chose European destinations, according to the OFS. Only 8% flew to Asia and 8% to the American continent. Finally, 5% chose Africa while 0.4% left for Oceania. The OFS also notes that in 84% of cases, a direct flight connected the passengers to their destination.
Destinations that vary according to airports
And it is Spain which is the most popular country in the Swiss, with 3.1 million passengers. Behind, we find the United Kingdom (2.89 Mio) and Germany (1.5 mio). Portugal and France complete this top 5. But the share of certain destinations varies strongly according to the airport, underlines the OFS. Thus, many more people have gone to Germany from Zurich. While in Geneva, we rather turn to France.
As for destinations outside Europe, it is the USA that lead the Swiss preferences with 1.2 million passengers, ahead of Turkey (1.1 Mio) and Morocco (306,000). Next come Egypt and Thailand (264,000 each).
In total, 24.2 million passengers took off from a Swiss airport in 2024, still less than in 2019, before the COVVID (25 MIO), calculated the OFS. Note that the flows towards Europe, Asia and Oceania also remained lower than those of 2019. On the other hand, Africa and America displayed higher values.
July, the most busy month for airports
The OFS also notes that the month of July is usually the most busy for Swiss airports. Last year, a total of 2.6 million local passengers at the start was identified. Airports are however less frequented in January and November (approximately 1.5 million passengers each in 2024). But this flow is very different over the year. Thus, the number of people who go to Amsterdam is more or less constant all year round. The CAP, in South Africa, welcomes two to three times more people in winter, in summer there. Phuket in Thailand is also very popular in winter for its tropical and temperate climate, while the majority of trips for Mallorca and Crete take place between April and October.
