Kloten Flughafen Airside Center

Geschichte

Zürich Airport, also known as Kloten Airport, is the largest international airport of Switzerland and the principal hub of Swiss International Air Lines. It serves Zürich, Switzerland's largest city, and, with its surface transport links, much of the rest of the country. The airport is located 13km north of central Zürich, in the municipalities of Kloten, Rümlang, Oberglatt, Winkel and Opfikon, all of which are within the canton of Zürich.The airport is owned by Flughafen Zürich AG, a company quoted on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Major shareholders include the canton of Zürich, with 33.33% plus one of the shares, and the city of Zürich, with 5% of the shares. No other shareholder has a holding exceeding 3%.HistoryEarly yearsThe first flight abroad from Switzerland was on July 21, 1921. In the early years of aviation, the Dübendorf Air Base, located some 8km to the south-east of Zürich Airport, also served as the city's commercial airfield. The need for a dedicated commercial facility lead to a search for a location for a replacement for Dübendorf. In 1945, the federal parliament decided that Zürich was to be the site of a major airport, and sold of the Kloten-Bülach Artillery Garrison to the Canton of Zürich, giving the canton control of the new airport. The construction of the airport began the next year.