If you are planning a trip to Switzerland then you will want to know about all the international airports in Switzerland.
This allows you to choose which of the Switzerland airports works best for your travel plans and gives you the easiest access to the parts of Switzerland you want to visit.
Being a financial hub in the center of Europe, there are seven international airports in Switzerland. The busiest airports are Zurich, Geneva, and Basel airport and these are also the airports that offer the most domestic and international flights.
Let’s take a look at all the Switzerland international airports in detail so you can find the right airport in Switzerland for you to arrive and depart from.
Table of Contents
Geneva Airport
Geneva International Airport is one of the busiest airports in Switzerland and part of this reason is that it is both in France and Switzerland, sitting right on the Swiss-France border.
There are two terminals at Geneva Airport, Terminal 1 is the main terminal while Terminal 2 is known as the French sector, and is used in the busier times of the year for overflow reasons.
Geneva Airport services flights to more than 100 different destinations around the globe with Amsterdam, Paris, and London being their busiest routes.
A lot of businessmen and tourists use Geneva Airport to arrive and depart from Switzerland and France with close to 18 million passengers per year.
The airport is incredibly conveniently located, just 4km outside of Geneva City Center. There is a train station inside the airport that is incredibly easy to find and it has trains arriving/departing every 30 minutes which can connect you to any destination in Switzerland you desire.
You can also get to and from Geneva Airport using the local bus services or you can use the car rental services available at the airport too.
While you are waiting for your flight at Geneva Airport you can enjoy the 25 restaurants, bars, and cafes, free WiFi, and more.
There is even a smoking area, meditation room, and kids’ playground plus you can park your car there, use the currency exchanges, and even the Covid-19 test center if you need to.
Zurich Airport
Zurich Airport is the largest airport and busiest airport in Switzerland. It is the main hub for Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss Air) and services more than 194 destinations across 69 countries.
Zurich airport is just 13 km away from Zurich city center and it only takes 10 minutes to get to this international airport from the city center via car or train. This makes it incredibly convenient for anyone traveling to Zurich for business or leisure.
You can also get direct trains from Zurich Airport to all over Switzerland, making connecting to nearby cities and mountain resorts as easy as it can be.
Zurich Airport is the main hub in Switzerland and services everywhere from the United States to Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok, and across Africa too. You can also connect to major European cities such as London, Frankfurt, Athens, and more.
Zurich Airport is considered one of the best airports in Europe thanks to the services it offers. It services around 10 million people a year and unsurprisingly, it is incredibly efficiently run to Swiss standards.
While arriving or departing from this international airport you can benefit from services including car rental, hotels, bars, cafes, restaurants, shops, WiFi, and more.
EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg
The EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport is one of the most unique Swiss Airports as it services three countries at once while being located in France.
You will find EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg Airport in the Saint-Louise province of France, just 3.5 km away from the Swiss city center of Basel. It also services the city of Mulhouse in France and the city of Freiburg in Germany.
Basel airport is one of the few airports in the world that is run by both Swiss and French authorities.
Basel Airport offers flights to more than 30 countries across Europe and North Africa. Their most frequent flights are to Spain, Italy, and Turkey as well as domestic flights to France also. It services millions of happy travelers every year and it takes just 25 minutes via tram and bus to get to and from Basel City Center.
As you would expect, Basel Airport offers an excellent range of services to its customers including free WiFi, car hire, currency exchange, luggage storage, a kid’s corner, bars, restaurants, cafes, and lots more.
Bern Airport
Bern Airport is one of the smaller Swiss airports and it is located about 12 km away from Bern city center right next to the Swiss town of Belp.
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Unlike the other Swiss Airports, Bern airport does not have a railway station but getting to it is still quite easy. It is a 10-minute bus ride to Belp Train Station from which you can get a direct train to Bern’s main railway station. The total journey time is around 40 minutes.
Bern Airport operates direct flights to and from Europe only and it is limited to 11 destinations in 6 countries including Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
If you are flying from one of these countries, then Bern is an excellent airport of choice, and you can also change planes in one of these countries if Bern Airport is where you would like to land!
From Bern Airport in Switzerland, you can access ski resorts, the Alps, Interlaken, and more very quickly. There is car hire available at the airport as well as free WiFi, parking, lost and found, luggage storage, cafes, bars, and restaurants.
Lugano Airport
Lugano Airport is located close to the Swiss Alps in southern Switzerland just 30 km from the Swiss-Italian Border. Sitting just outside Lugano city center, it is an excellent airport to use when accessing the ski resorts of the southern Alps.
Lugano airport had to close during the covid-19 pandemic but it is now reopened for seasonal flights only.
Only two airlines currently operate out of this small airport including Silver Air which operates flights from Lugano to Elba in Italy. The other airline operating from this airport is Twin Jet which provides charter flights to Olbia from Lugano.
Despite being a smaller airport, it has a train station from which you can get good access to Lugano city center directly in just 20 minutes.
It also offers great services including car rentals, duty-free shopping, currency exchanges, free WiFi, and more. There are also 3 bars/restaurants inside and conference centers you can book!
St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport
St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport sits right on the shores of Lake Constance in northern Switzerland and is also very close to the border with Austria, Germany, and Liechtenstein.
It is used primarily as a business hub and being a smaller airport, the queues are much smaller and your waiting time for flights is greatly reduced compared to larger and busier airports.
This airport has hand selected some of the best European destinations to fly to during the summer months and these include the Spanish islands of Ibiza and Palma de Mallorca, Sardinia, mainland Italy, mainland Greece, Greek Islands, Corsica, and Austria.
Outside of the summer months, there are only direct flights to Vienna, Austria from St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport, from which you can connect to global destinations.
Flying into St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport gives you amazing access to the Lake Constance region and the mountain resort areas of Davos and Klosters too. You can rent a car from the airport or hop on public transport to access Switzerland, Germany, and Austria.
Sion Airport
Sion Airport sits in central Switzerland just outside of the city of Sion in the Rhone Valley. Sion Airport is one of the best Swiss airports to fly to if you want to access the amazing ski resorts of Zermatt and Verbier in the Valais region.
This is a tiny airport that only services 5 destinations across Europe including Calvi, Rome, Palma De Mallorca, St Tropez, and Figari.
Sion Airport has its own train station that will connect you to whichever destination in the Swiss Alps you are heading to.
The services at Sion Airport are minimal but they do include charter and private flights if you are interested in them.
Airlines Based in Switzerland
When flying to Switzerland, one of course has the option to fly with a Swiss-based airline. There are eight airlines based in Switzerland and these include:
- Swiss International Airlines, operating out of Zurich and provide flights all over the world
- EasyJet Switzerland, operating out of Geneva and EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg airports to Europe and North Africa
- Belair Airlines, operating out of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg and Zurich
- Edelweiss Air, operating out of Zurich
- Germania Flug, operating out of Zurich
- Helvetic Airways, operating out of Zurich
- Jet Aviation, operating out of Zurich
- SkyWork Airlines, operating out of Bern Airport
Frequently Asked Questions
How many international airports are in Switzerland?
Switzerland has a total of 7 international airports: Zurich Airport, Geneva Airport, Bern Aiport, EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, Lugano Airport, Sion Airport, and St. Gallen-Altenrhein Airport.
Where are the main airports in Switzerland?
The three biggest airports in Switzerland are in order: Zurich Airport, Geneva Airport & EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg.
Is Geneva or Zurich Airport bigger?
Zurich Airport is the largest airport in Switzerland with nearly 2 million passengers passing through and 17,581 take-offs and landings in 2022.
Which airport should I fly to in Switzerland?
Zurich Airport is often better to fly into because it has more capacity and options. However, Geneva is closer to the southern and western parts of the country, so that might serve you better in some cases.
