Zurich Airport is deemed safer by pilots compared to Geneva and Basel airports.
In a joint analysis by the German Pilots' Association (Vereinigung Cockpit) and Aeropers, key risks for airport safety in 2025 were identified. The primary concern highlighted was runway incursions, unauthorized access events to runways, which can lead to serious accidents with potentially numerous fatalities. This risk was underscored by the 2001 Milan Linate collision, where inadequate taxiway guidance boards contributed to over 700 deaths.
The analysis placed a significant emphasis on safety from the pilots' perspective. Aeropers aims to regularly assess the three major Swiss airports—Zurich, Geneva, and Basel—to maintain and ensure high safety standards. Zurich Airport ranked highly, coming in third among 31 German and Swiss airports, outperforming Geneva (26th) and Basel (30th).
The analysis focused on major risks such as airplanes overshooting or leaving the runway unintentionally (excursion), unauthorized access to the runway (incursion), and evaluating backup infrastructure in the event of GPS jamming, which is becoming increasingly common due to geopolitical tensions.
The analyses aim to help airports improve safety standards even further. Leipzig/Halle airport topped the safety list of the analyzed airports. However, incidents such as the 2024 crash at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, which resulted in five fatalities, and the Jeju Air flight crash in the same year, which claimed the lives of 179 people, underscore the importance of ongoing safety checks.
Aeropers intends to take part in Vereinigung Cockpit's airport check to continually inform and improve safety standards. This was the first time Aeropers was part of the project group, according to a statement made on Wednesday. The full results of the 2025 report can be found at flughafencheck.ch.
Aeropers uses pilots' daily experience to inform and improve safety standards. The organization plans to assess safety at Switzerland's three national airports (Zurich, Geneva, and Basel) annually. The analyses by Aeropers aim to help airports improve safety standards even further, as they strive to maintain the highest possible safety standards for all airports under evaluation. All of the airports were found to be satisfactory in terms of safety standards by authorities.
- The analysis by Aeropers, in collaboration with the German Pilots' Association (Vereinigung Cockpit), will also focus on the potential risks in the finance, transportation, and sports industries, as they may indirectly affect aviation safety, considering the increasing economic interdependence among these sectors.
- The joint analysis will extend its scope to identify key risks in industries beyond aviation, such as finance and sports, as these sectors can have a profound impact on airport infrastructure and transportation systems, which in turn may contribute to runway incursions or other safety concerns.
