With temperatures sinking well below freezing across the Swiss Plateau, Zurich Airport’s dedicated de-icing crews performed more than 100 spray-downs in the early morning of 7 January and warned passengers to expect rolling delays for at least another 48 hours. Swissport, which runs the service, confirmed it has carried out 1,700 de-icings since October but said the current cold spell is the most intense of the winter so far.
Each procedure normally takes three to four minutes, yet can stretch to half an hour when a parked aircraft must first be cleared of snow. Airport management told Keystone-SDA that “operations are stable for now”, but admitted that exceptional night-time movements may be authorised if outbound banks fall badly behind the published curfew.
Flag-carrier SWISS and hub partner Lufthansa have activated cold-weather waiver policies, allowing free re-booking within the same cabin if a connection slips by more than two hours. Travel-management companies are advising corporate flyers to avoid tight transfers in Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna, which are facing identical weather constraints.
![Zurich Airport steps up de-icing operations as sub-zero snap threatens flight schedules]()
Should trip plans suddenly pivot, VisaHQ can streamline any last-minute paperwork. The online platform’s Switzerland portal (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) lets travellers and mobility managers check visa requirements in real time, submit electronic applications and arrange courier pickups, ensuring documentation is in order even when flights are rescheduled at short notice.
From a global-mobility perspective, the main risk is knock-on disruption to long-haul departures. North American red-eyes rely on punctual evening slots; if these are pushed past 23:00, crews may ‘time out’ under EASA duty rules, forcing next-day re-accommodation and visa-eligibility checks for transit passengers. Employers moving staff into Switzerland this week should verify hotel contingencies and Schengen-area validity windows on short-stay visas.
Cargo operators say pharmaceutical shipments are secure thanks to heated dollies, but time-critical express freight could miss overnight connections, affecting just-in-time production lines in the Zürich-Oberland and St. Gallen valleys.
Each procedure normally takes three to four minutes, yet can stretch to half an hour when a parked aircraft must first be cleared of snow. Airport management told Keystone-SDA that “operations are stable for now”, but admitted that exceptional night-time movements may be authorised if outbound banks fall badly behind the published curfew.
Flag-carrier SWISS and hub partner Lufthansa have activated cold-weather waiver policies, allowing free re-booking within the same cabin if a connection slips by more than two hours. Travel-management companies are advising corporate flyers to avoid tight transfers in Frankfurt, Munich and Vienna, which are facing identical weather constraints.
Should trip plans suddenly pivot, VisaHQ can streamline any last-minute paperwork. The online platform’s Switzerland portal (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) lets travellers and mobility managers check visa requirements in real time, submit electronic applications and arrange courier pickups, ensuring documentation is in order even when flights are rescheduled at short notice.
From a global-mobility perspective, the main risk is knock-on disruption to long-haul departures. North American red-eyes rely on punctual evening slots; if these are pushed past 23:00, crews may ‘time out’ under EASA duty rules, forcing next-day re-accommodation and visa-eligibility checks for transit passengers. Employers moving staff into Switzerland this week should verify hotel contingencies and Schengen-area validity windows on short-stay visas.
Cargo operators say pharmaceutical shipments are secure thanks to heated dollies, but time-critical express freight could miss overnight connections, affecting just-in-time production lines in the Zürich-Oberland and St. Gallen valleys.
