Construction of Zurich Airport began 80 years ago

The former military training area where the airport was to be built first had to be cleared of unexploded ordnance. Keystone-SDA

Eighty years ago, forests and a moor were cleared to make way for the construction of Zurich Airport’s first runway. Today, around 750 aircraft take off and land at the international airport each day.

A consortium of engineers and architects chose the partly wooded moorland area of the Kloten-Bülach military training area north of Zurich as the site of a new civil airport.

In 1943, the Federal Military Department agreed to relinquish the military training area “in the greater national interest”. Two years later, it sold 655 hectares of the site to the canton of Zurich for around CHF10 million ($12.5 million). Following several revisions to the project, the Zurich cantonal government approved a construction loan of CHF36.8 million.

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In 1946, excavators rolled onto the marshy site and began work. Several metres of raised bog were removed and the area was filled with material from the Holberg. In addition, the former military training area had to be cleared of unexploded ordnance, of which a total of 157 items were found. This drove up the construction costs. Instead of the estimated CHF59.5 million, the budget grew to CHF106 million.

Western runway completed first

The first runway to be put into operation was the 1,900-metre-long western runway 10/28 on June 14, 1948. The 2,600-metre-long blind landing runway 16/34 was completed later that same year. The airport now has three runways. Runway 14/32 measures 3,300 metres.

To optimise the runway system and ensure more reliable and safer operations, the runways are now to be extended. In March 2024, the people of Zurich approved the CHF250 million project by a 61.7% majority.

Translated from German/sub-editing gw