New building project planned on western side of Zurich Airport

Plans are in place for a new building development in the western part of Zurich Airport to meet the future demand for business aviation hangar space. A planning application has been submitted by the airport operator and will be on public display as of Monday 20 January 2020.

In the wake of changes in the business aviation segment and the increasing use of larger aircraft types for these services, Zurich Airport has, in recent years, become unable to meet the associated demand for hangar space. As one of Zurich Airport’s last remaining development areas for aviation facilities and aircraft stands, Zone West is currently the focus of a phased extension scheme.

Building project housing various facilities
The “Zone West; building, including apron and infrastructure” project aims to meet the demand for hangar facilities accommodating larger aircraft types and provide a new business aviation terminal building. The planned building has an area of 80 m x 280 m, with a maximum height of 30 m. It will occupy a plot to the west of the apron extension, to which it will be linked by separate hangar aprons. The landside infrastructure serving the building will be provided via a 750 m extension to Rohrstrasse running along the River Glatt. The project also includes parking facilities.
Flughafen Zürich AG has submitted a planning application to the Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) for the “Zone West; building, including apron and infrastructure” development project. This will be on public display from 20 January to 18 February 2020. Due to various interdependencies, it is not yet possible to specify the construction dates. The works are likely to be phased.

About Zone West
The approx. 16.8-hectare parcel is owned by Flughafen Zürich AG. Under the SAIP detailed plan, the area is earmarked for apron extensions as well as terminal, aircraft maintenance, airport maintenance and logistics buildings plus associated infrastructure and parking. Zone West is currently the site of several projects at various stages of completion: two new aircraft stands came into operation in 2017 and more have already been approved. As of March 2020, the existing apron will be extended in the direction of the River Glatt. This will necessitate relocation of the airport fence and the viewing platform dubbed “plane-spotters’ hill”. A replacement platform is planned to provide Zurich Airport’s large plane-spotting community with a new attractive vantage point for observing flight operations from this location.