Our Swiss National Day celebrations

Today is Swiss National Day, a national holiday in Switzerland. The date is inspired by the date of the Federal Charter of 1291 and celebrates the nation’s independence.

Celebrations are taking place in Swiss communities around the world, including here at PrivateFly, where our Swiss team member Davide is in control of the barbeque.

Davide’s efficiency and focus on quality is well-known in the office, but is more commonly deployed looking after our clients after they have booked a flight – no detail escapes his scrutiny.

Also in celebration of Swiss National Day, we have put together an insight into the private jet market in Switzerland. For a country with only 8 million people, it certainly punches above its weight in private jet terms, and has Europe’s second-busiest private jet airport, Geneva Cointrin (the busiest is Paris Le Bourget). Some highlights include:

• On average, Switzerland sees 56,000 business aviation flight movements per year.
• Geneva to Paris Le Bourget is the most popular private jet route in Europe, with 100 flights on this route on an average day.
• When you compare charter versus private flights (fractional or private-owned), the country has a higher proportion of charter flights than average. 45% of its May 2013 departures were on chartered aircraft (versus 40% across Europe).
• Despite most of its routes being just a 1 to 2 hour flight time, it’s the larger business jets that are growing in flight departure volumes for charter from Switzerland, despite the overall decline. It’s clear that when it comes to choosing a business jet in Switzerland, size matters.

Read our full report on the private jet market in Switzerland.