Bali and Mexico City: These direct connections from Zurich are worth it

Airline passengers will be able to fly from Zurich Airport to 187 cities this summer. That is almost as many as before the corona crisis in the summer of 2019. At that time, 195 destinations were served directly. However, the frequencies are often not at the level before the crisis this summer.

The network is not only dense in European cities, but also at distant destinations. Many cities in North America in particular can be reached without detours directly from the largest Swiss airport, but the most important metropolises in Asia are also served. On the other hand, the supply is thinner towards South America and Africa.

Switzerland’s largest national airport regularly analyzes which larger cities are not yet served directly from Zurich Airport, even if they generate a lot of traffic. To this end, we look at how many people with a transfer from Zurich fly to the relevant destinations.

The airport divides the corresponding route into three categories: In the “non-served routes” category are cities that are not served at all from Zurich. Destinations are listed in those of the “underserved routes” to which there are direct flights, but still a high number of people flying there with layovers – an indication of further potential for direct flights. In the “Seasonal Routes” category, Zurich Airport lists destinations with high potential that are currently not served all year round.

The list with the figures from 2019 and 2022 is available to CH Media – and it surprises.

In the category of “unmanned routes”, the popular Indonesian holiday island of Bali leads the list. In 2019, nearly 50,000 people flew there with one transfer from Zurich Airport. The figures for 2022 are significantly lower due to the travel restrictions in the aftermath of the corona pandemic, especially in Asia, and the generally lower level of travel and therefore do not correspond to the volume of a “normal” travel year.

With the exception of Mexico City, the list consists exclusively of cities in Asia and Australia. These are often very distant destinations that can hardly be offered economically with direct flights. Flights to Sydney could be technically possible. For example, the Australian airline Qantas is planning a direct flight from London to Sydney. Because a lot of fuel would have to be filled on such a long route, only a small amount of cargo could be taken on board, which plays a very important role in the profitability of routes at Swiss, for example.

At Denpasar in Bali, on the other hand, the proportion of holidaymakers is probably very high, but they are less likely to book business or first class. For airlines such as Swiss, which operates the hub at Zurich Airport, the revenue from these expensive classes is important to operate routes economically. On the other hand, there should be a lot of business traffic towards Mexico City – a potentially promising destination for interested airlines.

Interestingly, neither Osaka nor Washington DC are on the list. In 2020, Swiss was about to add these two destinations to its route portfolio, but the pandemic thwarted its plans. During a media call this week, Swiss commercial director Tamur Goudarzi Pour promised that the airline could start new long-haul destinations again next year. The airline plans to provide information on this within a few months.

Bangkok tops the airport’s list of “underserved routes”. Despite direct flights, more than 60,000 people traveled to the Thai capital in 2019 with a transfer.

This is followed by Seoul, New York, Tokyo and Delhi. Those detouring passengers to these destinations are likely to be more price-sensitive customers who would rather travel longer than pay for the often more expensive direct flights.

According to Bettina Kunz, spokeswoman for Airport Zurich, the data comes from a so-called market intelligence provider and is also collected by the airport itself. The data includes passengers flying indirectly from Zurich to the respective destination via a transfer airport.

If direct flights are offered on routes that were not previously served, demand is also created. Depending on the destination, the demand that can be generated with a direct flight is between 30 and 100 percent higher than the previously indirectly traveled volume.

In the summer, Seoul will again be directly connected by Korean Airlines, one of the largest economically, politically and culturally important metropolises in Asia, which was still missing. In addition, the capacities to Hong Kong and Shanghai would be expanded, says Kunz.

There is also potential for the airlines in the “seasonal flights” category.

“After the pandemic, the top priority was and is to restore the variety of destinations and the number of seats. By the summer of 2023, we will have 95 percent of the destinations and 90 percent of the airlines back,” says Kunz. “This includes new routes, such as from Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Ababa or from Saudia to Riyadh, in the opening Saudi Arabia This good intercontinental connection is very valuable for Zurich as a location and for Switzerland as a whole and “by no means self-evident”. (aargauerzeitung.ch)