If there is no competition: these are the expensive monopoly routes from Zurich

“We’re seeing extremely monopolistic behavior on some routes from Zurich,” says Thomas Jaeger, founder of Ch-aviation. “On short-distance routes, these include, for example, Frankfurt am Main, Vienna, but also Brussels and Budapest.” On long-haul routes, it’s a little less negative for travelers with monopoly routes, Jaeger says, because they can also reach these destinations via a connecting flight from Zurich and usually don’t waste much time.

Lufthansa group dominates Zurich

As far as the route network from Zurich is concerned, there are numerous monopoly routes (see chart), including for example Abu Dhabi (served by Etihad only) or Zagreb (only with Croatian Airlines). However, the same is true for Zurich Airport: Lufthansa Group dominates the bid. The German group includes Swiss, holiday airline Edelweiss, and Austria, other brands such as Brussels Airlines and Eurowings. In addition, independent Swiss providers such as Helvetic Airways operate primarily on behalf of Switzerland. Therefore, Helvetic Airways is not acting as a price breaker compared to Lufthansa’s offers.

Also, smaller, independent airlines such as Chair Airlines flying from Zurich in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East have only three machines in operation. For comparison: With Edelweiss and other aircraft from Helvetic Airways and Air Baltic, Swiss has a fleet of around 130 aircraft and corresponding market power. “A strong competitor like Wizz Air wouldn’t have had a chance to act in Zurich because all the good slots, namely take-off and landing rights have long been reserved in Zurich,” says Jaeger.

On some routes, passengers arriving from Zurich, for example, are faced with a rather ambiguous picture in terms of prices. “For example, if they want to fly to Frankfurt am Main, they inevitably have to pay more,” says Jaeger. “Other routes, such as Zurich-London, are significantly cheaper as so many providers fly there.” British Airways and Easyjet fly between Zurich and London, among others. Mallorca has always been a good example of where competitive pressures arise.

Airlines agree on long-haul routes

On some popular routes to North America, there is no stiff price competition that could give customers an advantage, although more than one airline operates there: for example, both Swiss and United operate on the Zurich-Chicago route. “But Swiss and United are not acting against each other on this road,” says Jaeger. “On the one hand, both airlines are part of the Star Alliance and also have a joint venture called “Atlantic++” for several years, which means revenue is shared and prices are agreed upon.” Air Canada is also part of this joint venture.

There are more than one provider in such destinations towards Canada and the USA, and in this sense, it is not the classic monopoly route, but there is no competition for lower prices either.

Whether train or car: this is not usually an alternative

What options are there for passengers flying from Zurich who don’t want to spend a lot of money on airfare on the classic monopoly route? Unfortunately, not all routes have multiple transport providers (like the train) that provide fast and inexpensive transportation, and the train is not an option for long-distance travel anyway.

But for short distances, the train is sometimes an option. This is usually cheaper, but of course it also takes time: if you fly to Zurich-Vienna, it takes about 80 minutes, by train it is 8 hours.

Good for customers: Travelers from Zurich can also easily reach many destinations in Europe from Basel, where low-cost carrier Easyjet is strong.

And for long distance connections, if you want to save money, you should look for a streaming connection. For example, whether flying from Milan or Munich instead of Zurich for long-haul flights is really worthwhile always depends on how much travel time and hassle passengers are willing to go through to get a cheaper flight. However, it can be useful depending on the situation.