Security operations surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s 48-hour visit to the World Economic Forum culminated late Thursday with a tightly choreographed exfiltration that rippled across Switzerland’s transport network. After a day of bilateral meetings in Davos, the presidential convoy of more than 30 vehicles wound its way down the single-carriageway Landwasser valley, temporarily closing the main A28 trunk road and causing multi-kilometre tailbacks for commuters and freight traffic. Police helicopters shadowed the column while snipers manned highway overpasses.(swissinfo.ch)
At Zurich Airport, authorities activated a special “head-of-state slot” protocol: commercial departures were held at their gates for 15 minutes while the Boeing 757 known as “Air Force One” taxied and took off at 17:37. Airport operator Flughafen Zürich AG said only that “normal operations resumed swiftly,” but ground-handling companies reported missed connections for several intra-European flights and a cascade of crew-duty resets that will extend into Friday’s schedule.
The disruption capped a week of unprecedented VIP traffic: Zurich had already extended its operating curfew and processed more than 850 business-jet movements between 19 and 22 January, the busiest three-day stretch in its history. Airlines flying in senior executives to the WEF were instructed to carry extra fuel in case they were diverted to Basel or Milan during the presidential window.
![Trump motorcade and Air Force One departure trigger road closures and slot restrictions in Zurich]()
Travelers heading to Davos—or anywhere else in Switzerland—during such busy periods may also find visa requirements shifting along with flight schedules. VisaHQ can help simplify that part of the journey by arranging Swiss entry documents online for individuals or entire corporate delegations, keeping one logistical variable firmly under control: https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/
For multinational companies the incident is a reminder that heads-of-state visits can override pre-arranged airport slots, car-service bookings and even hotel security sweeps. Mobility managers are advised to build “presidential buffers” of four to six hours into WEF itineraries and to book flexible rail tickets for staff travelling between Zurich and Graubünden.
Looking ahead, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation has signalled that it will review whether the 25-nautical-mile restricted air-space ring around Davos should be enlarged in 2027 to give controllers more margin when unscheduled state flights coincide with peak private-jet demand.
At Zurich Airport, authorities activated a special “head-of-state slot” protocol: commercial departures were held at their gates for 15 minutes while the Boeing 757 known as “Air Force One” taxied and took off at 17:37. Airport operator Flughafen Zürich AG said only that “normal operations resumed swiftly,” but ground-handling companies reported missed connections for several intra-European flights and a cascade of crew-duty resets that will extend into Friday’s schedule.
The disruption capped a week of unprecedented VIP traffic: Zurich had already extended its operating curfew and processed more than 850 business-jet movements between 19 and 22 January, the busiest three-day stretch in its history. Airlines flying in senior executives to the WEF were instructed to carry extra fuel in case they were diverted to Basel or Milan during the presidential window.
Travelers heading to Davos—or anywhere else in Switzerland—during such busy periods may also find visa requirements shifting along with flight schedules. VisaHQ can help simplify that part of the journey by arranging Swiss entry documents online for individuals or entire corporate delegations, keeping one logistical variable firmly under control: https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/
For multinational companies the incident is a reminder that heads-of-state visits can override pre-arranged airport slots, car-service bookings and even hotel security sweeps. Mobility managers are advised to build “presidential buffers” of four to six hours into WEF itineraries and to book flexible rail tickets for staff travelling between Zurich and Graubünden.
Looking ahead, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation has signalled that it will review whether the 25-nautical-mile restricted air-space ring around Davos should be enlarged in 2027 to give controllers more margin when unscheduled state flights coincide with peak private-jet demand.
