Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) was forced to scrub a further 12 flights on Saturday, 11 January 2026, after overnight temperatures on the Swiss Plateau sank to –10 °C and thick ice coated aircraft parked on the tarmac. The cancellations – affecting there-and-back rotations from Zürich to Nice, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, London, Milan and Luxembourg – come on top of more than 80 weather-related cancellations since New Year’s Day, disrupting the itineraries of an estimated 10 000 passengers in the first two weeks of 2026.
A spokesperson told Keystone-SDA that ground crews at Zürich’s Kloten hub have been operating almost “24/7” to keep de-icing trucks moving. Even so, arriving flights were averaging 90-minute delays on Saturday morning, and SWISS warned business travellers to expect continued knock-on effects as aircraft and crews fall out of rotation.
![SWISS cancels more flights as deep-freeze grips Switzerland]()
SWISS’s operations centre is automatically re-booking affected travellers and offering full refunds via the airline’s app; however, travellers with tight onward connections are being urged to consider rail alternatives or reroute via Geneva, which remained largely unaffected by the Arctic blast. The carrier has also negotiated emergency crew-duty exemptions with the Federal Office of Civil Aviation that allow limited flexibility if long-haul services risk breaching Zürich’s 23:30 night-curfew.
For travellers suddenly facing new layovers or last-minute route changes, VisaHQ can streamline any visa or transit-permit needs in just a few clicks. Its dedicated Switzerland page (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) offers up-to-the-minute entry requirements, fast online applications and personalised alerts—handy when winter weather rewrites your itinerary overnight.
For corporates, the episode underlines the vulnerability of winter schedules: travel managers are advised to insert wider connection buffers, remind assignees to keep boarding passes for EU-ETS compliance, and consider travel-insurance riders that cover weather disruptions. Meteorologists at MeteoSwiss say sub-zero highs are likely to persist into mid-week, meaning further short-notice cancellations cannot be ruled out.
A spokesperson told Keystone-SDA that ground crews at Zürich’s Kloten hub have been operating almost “24/7” to keep de-icing trucks moving. Even so, arriving flights were averaging 90-minute delays on Saturday morning, and SWISS warned business travellers to expect continued knock-on effects as aircraft and crews fall out of rotation.
SWISS’s operations centre is automatically re-booking affected travellers and offering full refunds via the airline’s app; however, travellers with tight onward connections are being urged to consider rail alternatives or reroute via Geneva, which remained largely unaffected by the Arctic blast. The carrier has also negotiated emergency crew-duty exemptions with the Federal Office of Civil Aviation that allow limited flexibility if long-haul services risk breaching Zürich’s 23:30 night-curfew.
For travellers suddenly facing new layovers or last-minute route changes, VisaHQ can streamline any visa or transit-permit needs in just a few clicks. Its dedicated Switzerland page (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) offers up-to-the-minute entry requirements, fast online applications and personalised alerts—handy when winter weather rewrites your itinerary overnight.
For corporates, the episode underlines the vulnerability of winter schedules: travel managers are advised to insert wider connection buffers, remind assignees to keep boarding passes for EU-ETS compliance, and consider travel-insurance riders that cover weather disruptions. Meteorologists at MeteoSwiss say sub-zero highs are likely to persist into mid-week, meaning further short-notice cancellations cannot be ruled out.
