Switzerland’s Federal Roads Office (ASTRA), national rail operator SBB and Zurich Airport issued a rare joint bulletin on 14 December warning that the Christmas-to-New-Year period could bring record passenger and freight volumes. Officials singled out 1 – 4 January 2026 as the most critical window but cautioned that congestion is likely to start the coming weekend. On the road network, bottlenecks are expected on the A1 and A2 corridors around Zurich, Bern, Basel, Lucerne and Lugano as well as on Alpine trans-it routes such as the Gotthard and San Bernardino passes. Drivers have been asked not to divert onto secondary cantonal roads where accident risks are higher.
SBB will attach extra carriages to key long-distance services and add some 30 special trains to ski resorts, yet the operator warns that seat reservations on peak departures will be essential. Corporate mobility managers are being advised to book staff outside rush-hour windows and to build generous transfer buffers between rail and flight legs—particularly for itineraries that combine domestic trains with long-haul flights from Zurich or Geneva.
Zurich Airport expects about 100,000 passengers on 19 December alone, close to its all-time daily record. Peak outbound routes include New York, London, Paris and Pristina, while inbound demand is surging from Miami, the Maldives and Scandinavian winter-sun destinations. Airport authorities recommend arriving two hours early for Schengen flights and three hours early for non-Schengen services, using evening bag-drop services where possible.
![Swiss Authorities Warn of Holiday Travel Crunch Across Roads, Rails and Zurich Airport]()
The advisory has practical visa implications. Travellers from outside the Schengen Area must account for longer processing times under Switzerland’s new Entry/Exit System kiosks, while last-minute visa appointments may be hard to secure. Visa consultants therefore urge companies to file applications now and to keep supporting paperwork on hand in case re-routing forces arrivals via another Schengen hub.
In this context, VisaHQ (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) can remove much of the administrative strain by offering end-to-end support for Swiss and wider Schengen visa applications, from securing hard-to-find appointment slots to checking that supporting documents will satisfy the new Entry/Exit System. Their online dashboard lets travel coordinators track multiple cases in real time, a useful safeguard when tight holiday schedules leave zero room for paperwork errors.
For employers, the alert translates into longer door-to-door times for December relocations, potential overnight stays near major hubs and updated per diem calculations. Logistics teams handling time-sensitive goods—particularly pharmaceuticals—should prepare contingency trucking capacity in case rail or air cargo is delayed by passenger backlogs.
SBB will attach extra carriages to key long-distance services and add some 30 special trains to ski resorts, yet the operator warns that seat reservations on peak departures will be essential. Corporate mobility managers are being advised to book staff outside rush-hour windows and to build generous transfer buffers between rail and flight legs—particularly for itineraries that combine domestic trains with long-haul flights from Zurich or Geneva.
Zurich Airport expects about 100,000 passengers on 19 December alone, close to its all-time daily record. Peak outbound routes include New York, London, Paris and Pristina, while inbound demand is surging from Miami, the Maldives and Scandinavian winter-sun destinations. Airport authorities recommend arriving two hours early for Schengen flights and three hours early for non-Schengen services, using evening bag-drop services where possible.
The advisory has practical visa implications. Travellers from outside the Schengen Area must account for longer processing times under Switzerland’s new Entry/Exit System kiosks, while last-minute visa appointments may be hard to secure. Visa consultants therefore urge companies to file applications now and to keep supporting paperwork on hand in case re-routing forces arrivals via another Schengen hub.
In this context, VisaHQ (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) can remove much of the administrative strain by offering end-to-end support for Swiss and wider Schengen visa applications, from securing hard-to-find appointment slots to checking that supporting documents will satisfy the new Entry/Exit System. Their online dashboard lets travel coordinators track multiple cases in real time, a useful safeguard when tight holiday schedules leave zero room for paperwork errors.
For employers, the alert translates into longer door-to-door times for December relocations, potential overnight stays near major hubs and updated per diem calculations. Logistics teams handling time-sensitive goods—particularly pharmaceuticals—should prepare contingency trucking capacity in case rail or air cargo is delayed by passenger backlogs.
