Zurich Airport - History

History

The first flight abroad from Switzerland was on July 21, 1921, but the decision to begin the search for an acceptable location for a major airport wasn’t started until 1943 inside the Canton of Zurich. The site in Zurich was chosen in 1945 by the federal government and sold 655 hectares of Kloten Ordnance Depot to the Canton of Zurich. Thus the Canton of Zurich had control of the airport. The construction of the airport began the next year.

The first flights off the west runway were not until 1948. The celebration of the airport’s opening was held in 1953, with a large air show and ran for three days. The first expansion of the airport was submitted in 1956, however, the budget for the expansion was not approved by the Swiss Government until 1958 and the expansion was completed in 1961. The airport was again submitted and approved for renovation in 1970, and Terminal B was completed in 1971. The first signs of noise mitigation for the airport were in 1972, when a night-time curfew was enacted, as well as in 1974 when new approach routes were introduced. Runway 14/32 was opened in 1976, and 16/34 began renovation.

The noise of aircraft became an issue and a noise charge was instituted in 1980, and in 1984, an agreement was made regarding arrivals and departures to the airport via German airspace. The next largest event for the airport was in 1999, when the Parliament of the Canton of Zurich approved privatization of Zurich Airport. It was not until 2000, that “Unique” was appointed as the new airport operator. A treaty was signed in 2001, regarding the limitation of flights over Germany. Negotiations have been under way since 2003 about the procedures and noise pollution over Germany and Switzerland.