The Swiss fly mainly to travel within Europe.
Majorca, a popular destination for the Swiss between April and October.
Did you take a plane last year and fly to Barcelona, London, or Berlin? Then you're one of the vast majority of Swiss who did the same, according to the Federal Statistical Office, which analyzed the Swiss' flight habits.
Verdict: 79% of people departing from a Swiss airport chose European destinations, according to the FSO. Only 8% flew to Asia and 8% to the Americas. Finally, 5% chose Africa while 0.4% headed to Oceania. The FSO further notes that in 84% of cases, a direct flight connected passengers to their destination.
Spain is the most popular country for Swiss passengers, with 3.1 million. Behind it are the United Kingdom (2.89 million) and Germany (1.5 million). Portugal and France complete the top five. However, the share of certain destinations varies greatly depending on the airport, the FSO points out. For example, many more people flew to Germany from Zurich. In Geneva, however, the focus is on France.
As for destinations outside Europe, the USA is the top destination for the Swiss, with 1.2 million passengers, ahead of Turkey (1.1 million) and Morocco (306,000). Egypt and Thailand are next in line (264,000 each).
In total, 24.2 million passengers departed from a Swiss airport in 2024, still fewer than in 2019, before Covid (25 million), the FSO calculated. It should be noted that flows to Europe, Asia, and Oceania also remained lower than in 2019. In contrast, Africa and America posted higher figures.
The FSO also notes that July is usually the busiest month for Swiss airports. Last year, a total of 2.6 million departing local passengers were recorded. Airports, on the other hand, are less busy in January and November (around 1.5 million passengers each in 2024). But this flow varies greatly throughout the year. For example, the number of people traveling to Amsterdam is more or less constant throughout the year. Cape Town, South Africa, welcomes two to three times as many people in winter, which is summer there. Phuket in Thailand is also very popular in winter for its tropical and temperate climate, while the majority of trips to Mallorca and Crete take place between April and October.
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