Zurich Airport handles 3.17 million passengers in October 2026, level with last year as freight falls 14%

Zurich Airport handled 3,169,713 passengers in October 2026, 0.1% more than in October 2025, according to traffic figures published by airport operator Flughafen Zürich AG on 11 November 2026.

Of that total, 2,301,969 were local passengers and 865,828 were transfer passengers, so transfer traffic accounted for 27.3% of all passengers. Aircraft movements rose 1.2% to 24,914 take-offs and landings, while the average number of passengers per movement fell 2.5% to 141.4. The average seat load factor was 82.9%, 1.4 percentage points lower than a year earlier. Freight volumes fell 14.1% to 34,219 tonnes.

Taken together, the figures describe an airport that added flights in October without adding passengers in the same proportion: more movements, fewer passengers per flight and slightly emptier seats. With more than a quarter of its passengers changing planes, Zurich remains heavily dependent on transfer traffic.

The release does not explain the changes, and it does not break traffic down by airline, region or route. It also gives no separate year-on-year comparison for local and transfer passengers. Readers looking for information on specific routes or on the winter season should check airline schedules and the airport's next monthly figures.