Zurich Airport recovered in 2021 from the slump in the previous year. Nevertheless, the airport operator remained in the red.
At 2021 million, sales in 680 were still 46 percent lower than in 2019, as the airport announced on Tuesday. Because even in 2021, not even half as many planes landed and took off in Kloten as before Corona. In the second half of 2021, the airport already achieved a positive result again. Strict cost discipline helped. Despite the high fixed costs of maintaining airport operations, the airport managed to further reduce operating costs. In 2021, for example, they were 2020 percent lower than in 8 and 2019 percent lower than in 24. The lower costs are due, among other things, to lower expenses for staff thanks to short-time work. The bottom line, however, was only to stem the loss. Despite a profit in the second half, a loss of 2021 million remained over the whole of 10. In the previous year, however, this had amounted to 69 million.
"The year 2021 was also dominated by the pandemic. The general travel restrictions and quarantine rules were drastic, as they made travel almost impossible and unsettled passengers. From a business point of view, the great planning uncertainty was also a huge challenge. I am all the more pleased that, together with our partners at the airport, we were able to ensure largely smooth operations," said airport boss Stephan Widrig.
However, the airport expects further brightening. The start of the current year was influenced by Omikron. In addition, the war in Ukraine is causing additional uncertainty. However, it is assumed that the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic will be increasingly relaxed, according to the broadcast. All in all, the airport expects passenger volume to double to 2022 million in 20. This means that two thirds of the volume of 2019 would have been reached again. Against this background, a profit is expected again in the current year. However, the group does not expect air traffic to fully recover until 2025.
and 