Zurich Airport
| Continent: Europe | Country: Switzerland |
| Zurich Airport | |
| Location | Zurich, Switzerland |
| IATA code | ZRH |
| ICAO code | LSZH |
| Airport type | Commercial |
| Website | [www.flughafen-zuerich.ch www.flughafen-zuerich.ch] |
| Overview map | [ ] |
| Communications | |
| Tower | 118.1 |
| Ground | 121.850 (North) 121.750 (South) |
| Clearance | 121.800 |
| Approach | 118.000 (West via GIPOL) 120.750 (North/East) via AMIKI/RILAX 119.700 125.325 Final (rarely used): |
| Departure | 125.950 |
| ATIS | 128.525 (phone: +41438162294) |
Zurich airport is the only airport of the city of Zurich, the Swiss centre of finance and economy.
The airport is located about 10 kilometers northeast of the city and can easily be reached by car, bus or train.
Today there are about 100 airlines offering almost 150 connections to every continent in the world except Australia. 17.3 million passengers were handled in 2004. In 2003 the new terminal, terminal E, also called "Midfield", was opened. Three runways, most of which are equipped with an ILS-system are providing a smoothly running service.
Runways, Terminals and their usage
Runways
| Runway: | Length: | Equipment: | Usage: | In use: | Diagram: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 2500m | - | Departing runway with winds from the east. No landings | rare |  |
| 14 | 3300m | ILS | Main landing runway, no takeoffs | always | |
| 16 | 3700m | ILS | Main departing runway for heavies, rarely a landing | frequently | |
| 28 | 2500m | VORDME | Main departing runway, landings in the evening | always | |
| 32 | 3300m | - | Departing runway in the morning, no landings | rare | |
| 34 | 2700m | ILS | Landing rwy morning, sometimes heavy-TOs | medium |
Because of many people living around the airport are complaining about the noise, the airport authority had to make a detailed concept of runway usage. It is listed in the following table. Of course changes can be made because of reasons like weather, so I recommend listening to the ATIS (128.525) before going spotting.
| Weekdays (Mo-Fr) | Weekend, public holidays in southern Germany | ||||||||||||
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Terminals and parking stands
At Zurich airport there are three Terminals, Terminal 1 (former A), Terminal 2 (former B), Terminal E (former Midfield).
In the table below is listed which airplanes can be seen in which area.
| Terminal 1 (A) | This terminal is mostly used by Swiss. Many longhaul flights (A332/A343) are being handled here aswell as some european flights (A32X, RJ). Besides Swiss sometimes other European carriers can be found here, for example BA. Best view from: Spotting Points 1 and 2 | ||
| Terminal 2 (B) | Terminal 2 was closed when Terminal E was opened and the finger docks were demounted. Now this terminal is mostly being used to park longhaulers which stay for a longer time. For example SAA A342, Malasian B777, or the MNG A300F. On the southern side there are new stands for regional aircrafts (CRJs, ERJs, ...) which are served by bus. (Lufthansa, Alitalia, Air France) Best view from: Spotting Point 1 | ||
| Terminal E (Midfield) | The terminal opened in 2003 is the point where all longhaul flights of foreign airlines are handled. (UAE, SIA, MAS, UAL, AAL, DAL, COA, ACA, KAL, SAA, JAL). Also there are some longhauls of Swiss (mostly to the USA) as well as most European carriers here.. Best view from: Spotting Point 2, but only the aircrafts on the western side of the terminal which is about 1/3 of all aircrafts. | ||
| Mike-Stands | South of Terminal 2 there are the Mike-Stands (designated C and D but served by Taxiway Mike). These are stands served by bus. On these stands mostly medium airliners (A32X, B737, MD8X) von DLH, SAS, AUA and IBE can be spotted.
Best view from:: Spotting Point 1 (a little far away) and 5 | ||
Traffic
Because of Zurich being quite an important international HUB there are some interesting planes around waiting to be spotted. Besides the big european carriers which usually send their standard medium equipment to Zurich, many big carriers from other continents can be seen here arriving with their heavies. Some of these are: American, Continental, Delta, Emirates, JAL, Malaysian, Singapore, South African, Thai, United. In addition to that you have the Swiss lognhaul-fleet (9 A332 + 9 A343) as well as the heavies of local charter airlines Edelweiss (1 A332) and Belair (1 B763) which you don't see that often in Europe. To be up to date in terms of traffic the best thing is to have a look at the official online timetable which even displays the registrations!
[1]Arrivals
[2]Arrivals next day (avail. from 1900LT)
[3]Departures
[4]Departures next day (avail. from 1900LT)
Download Winter-Timetable 05/06 as PDF
Peter Frei/Aerpix.net provides us with an excellent service as he always lists the specials of the next day on his homepage, available from 19.00LT. aerpix.net
The following table covers the heavies of the Summer flightplan 2005. It is not accurate anymore and simply intended to give you an impression of what's going on at Zurich.
| Airline | Callsign | From/To | Arrival: | Departure: | Aircraft | Days: (1=Monday) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Canada | ACA787/879 | Toronto | 10.05 | 11.40 | B763 | 1234567 |
| American | AAL64/65 | NY JFK | 10.45 | 13.00 | B763 | 1234567 |
| American | AAL36/37 | Dallas | 07.55 | 10.20 | B763 | 1234567 |
| Continental | COA78/79 | Newark | 08.40 | 10.45 | B762 | 1234567 |
| Delta | DAL66/67 | Atlanta | 08.30 | 10.30 | B763 | 1234567 |
| Emirates | UAE087/088 | Dubai | 13.20 | 15.45 | A345/A343 | 1234567 (A343: 1+3) |
| JAL | JAL451/452 | Tokyo NRT | 15.55 | 17.50 | B744 | 1--4-6- |
| Korean | KAL917/918 | Seoul | 18.25 | 20.25 | A332 | -2-4-6- |
| Malaysian | MAS10/9 | Kuala Lumpur | 06.15 | 12.50 | B772 | -2-4-6- |
| Singapore | SIA346/345 | Singapore | 06.30 | 13.25 | B744 | 1234567 |
| South African | SAA274/275 | Johannesbourg | 07.07 | 20.25 | A342 | 1234567 |
| Swiss | SWR16/17 | NY JFK | 08.15 | 10.00 | A332/A343 | 1234567 |
| Swiss | SWR52/53 | Boston | 08.15 | 13.00 | A332/A343 | 1234567 |
| Swiss | SWR40/41 | Los Angeles | 15.55 | 12.50 | A343 | dep: 1-3456- arr: -2-4567 |
| Swiss | SWR96/97 | Sao Paulo | 11.05 | 22.30 | A343 | dep: -234-67 arr: 1-3456- |
| Swiss | SWR8/9 | Chciago | 08.35 | 12.50 | A332 | 1234567 |
| Swiss | SWR86/87 | Montreal | 06.20 | 12.55 | A332 | 1234567 |
| Swiss | SWR272/273 | Duala via Malabo | 06.15 | 09.45 | A332 | dep: -2-4- arr: -3-5- |
| Swiss | SWR276/277 | Yaounde via Malabo | 06.25 | 12.15 | A332 | dep: -6- arr: -7- |
| Swiss | SWR288/289 | Johannesbourg | 06.10 | 22.20 | A343 | dep: 123-567 arr: 1234-67 |
| Swiss | SWR292/293 | Dar es Salam via Nairobi | 06.25 | 09.45 | A332 | dep: 1-3-5 arr: -2-4-6 |
| Swiss | SWR236/237 | Cairo | 19.10 | 09.45 | A343 | -234-67 |
| Swiss | SWR254/255 | Tel Aviv | 19.15 | 09.50 | A343 | 1234567 |
| Swiss | SWR228/229 | Jeddah via Riyadh | 06.20 | 12.40 | A332 | dep: 2-4-7 arr: 3-5-1 |
| Swiss | SWR242/243 | Muscat via Dubai | 06.25 | 1240 | A332 | 1234567 |
| Swiss | SWR154/155 | Mumbai/Bombay | 06.20 | 10.00 | A332 | 1234567 |
| Swiss | SWR168/169 | Tokyo NRT | 15.55 | 13.05 | A343 | dep: 12-4567 arr: 123-567 |
| Swiss | SWR138/139 | Hong Kong | 06.20 | 22.20 | A343 | 1234567 |
| Swiss | SWR182/183 | Singapore via Bangkok | 06.25 | 22.20 | A343 | dep: -234567 arr: 12-4567 |
| Thai | THA970/971 | Bangkok | 07.10 | 13.30 | A346/A343 | 1234567 (A346: 2-4-6) |
| United | UAL936/937 | Wash. D.C. | 08.10 | 11.45 | B763 | 1234567 |
ATC
Using an airband receiver can be very helpful to know what's going on. Luckily using airband receivers in Switzerland is allowed and police ignores it. I have never had any problems and there are many enthusiasts using airband receivers here. I recommend listening to the tower because it is the most used frequency and you know about every landing and takeoff that is being performed. Frequencies are listed at the beginning of this article.
There are different streams of Zurich-ATC at LiveATC.net
Stereo-Feed of Lower/Upper-Radar
Feed of Tower, Arrival, Departure
Spotting Locations
In Zurich there are plenty of spotting positions some of which are really excellent. I designed a layer with all spotting-points for "Google Earth". Download (1,3KB)
The spotting-tips below refer to the numbers shown on the graphic on the right.
Regular Traffic
Facilities and Transportation
Links
Until this article is finished, please take a look at the detailed spotting-description on www.planepics.org