World City Guide

Getting There By Air

Zrich-Kloten (ZRH)
Tel: (043) 816 2211 or (0900) 300 313 (flight information).
E-mail: info@unique.ch
Website: www.zurich-airport.com or www.unique.ch

The airport, situated 11km (7 miles) northeast of the city centre, has two terminals and ranks ninth among Europe’s largest airports. Flights arrive from 197 cities in 82 countries on one of 75 scheduled or 49 chartered airlines.

Major airlines: In the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001, Swissair ceased trading as of 31 March 2002. Assets were transferred to Crossair, the associated regional carrier, which changed its name to SWISS (tel: (084) 885 2000; website: www.swiss.com). Other airlines serving Zrich-Kloten include Air Canada, Air France, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, easyJet, Helvetic Airways, JAL Japan Airlines, Lufthansa and South African Airways.

Approximate flight times to Zurich: From London is 1 hour 30 minutes; from New York is 7 hours 45 minutes; from Los Angeles is 11 hours 15 minutes; from Toronto is 8 hours 15 minutes and from Sydney is 22 hours 15 minutes.

Airport facilities: Facilities include showers, resting/sleeping areas, childcare, dental and medical centres, duty-free and other shops, restaurants, bars and cafs. The airport offers a number of amenities and good accessibility for disabled passengers. With the Fly-Rail Baggage service, passengers can check their bags in at the rail station up to 24-hours before their flight. Likewise, arriving passengers can check their bags from the originating airport straight through to a Swiss railway station. Car hire is available from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, National and Sixt.

Business facilities: The Airport Conference Centre (tel: (043) 816 3422), offering 32 rooms of various sizes and four in the recently upgraded ancient tower, is located in the office complex of terminal A. The centre provides full facilities including fax, copiers and wireless LAN; a full list of equipment for hire is on the website. Every room has an overhead projector, flipchart and direct telephone connection.

Transport to the city: Zurich Transport Federation, Zrcher Verkehrsverbund – ZVV (tel: (0848) 988 988; website: www.zvv.ch) regional S-Bahn trains (S2) run from beneath the airport to the city centre every 10-15 minutes (journey time – 10 minutes). There are scheduled services to other Swiss destinations on InterCity trains. Regional Verkehrsbetriebe Zrich – VBZ (tel: (01) 434 4111; website: www.vbz.ch) buses and night buses serve a large area of Switzerland. Many hotels near the airport and in the city offer a courtesy bus service. Taxis are readily available in front of both arrival halls (journey time – 15-30 minutes).