Market Overview: Scotland to Switzerland in 2024

Last year I made a series of presentations about market share across Scotland to the ten largest inbound tourist markets as identified by Visit Scotland. Now that 2024 has concluded and we have a years worth of data I thought it would be a good idea to revisit each of these markets in a bit more detail.

A disclaimer is needed here, I have done this from an airport neutral point of view, and it is very important to remember that just because a load factor is high, that does not necessarily mean that yields are high.

This particular post is focusing specifically on the Scotland-Switzerland market, which is the tenth largest inbound tourism market for Scotland.

For those unfamiliar with the route networks and airlines below is a summary of the routes and airlines who will be referenced throughout this article;

• Aberdeen to Geneva operated by easyJet
• Edinburgh to Basel operated by easyJet
• Edinburgh to Geneva operated by easyJet and Jet2
• Edinburgh to Zurich operated by Edelweiss
• Glasgow to Geneva operated by easyJet and Jet2

To try and simplify this articles format I will do a general section which will provide a holistic overview of the market, then I will provide sections for each airports performance.

If you are only interested in a specific market segment use the list below to jump to the relevant section;

1. Passenger Numbers Per Month
2. Market Share By Airport
3. Route Specific Numbers: Basel
4. Route Specific Numbers: Geneva
5. Route Specific Numbers: Zurich
6. Final Thoughts
   1. About The Author

Passenger Numbers Per Month

As the above graph shows, Edinburgh Airport is ahead in several respects;

• It is the only airport in Scotland to have year round service to Switzerland – as highlighted in blue above.
• Even in months where Aberdeen and Glasgow have service, passenger numbers from Edinburgh are higher.

Remember, this is just an overview, and some months have been impacted by external events;

• February benefited from being a leap-year, thus introducing an extra day of flying, as February 29th was a Thursday this additional flying only benefited Edinburgh Airport, artificially skewing this month in their favour.
• June/July both benefited from the Euros taking place in Germany and Scotland being one of the teams competing, as a result Edelweiss operated additional Zurich flights from Edinburgh during these months.

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Market Share By Airport

Note: 2020 and 2021 figures were heavily impacted by Covid-19, thus cannot be used for any serious comparison.

The Swiss market in 2024 provides an excellent example of why statistics can always tell multiple stories depending on who is looking at them!

In 2024, market share for Glasgow airport decrease from 5.49% to 5.32% despite a rise in passenger numbers, all three airports in Scotland covered in this market witnessed a rise in passenger numbers, but this is not reflected in market share data.

Aberdeen’s increase in market share was the largest at 0.8%, taking there share to 1.2%, leaving Edinburgh with the remaining 93.48% while also recording an increase of 0.07%.

Looking back to 2019 and comparing to 2024 tells a different story, with Glasgow being the only airport in increase market share (albeit in a smaller market operating in vastly different circumstances than today).

Not only is Glasgow the only airport to have increased its market share since 2019, it is the only one of the three airports with a larger market share pre and post pandemic.

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Route Specific Numbers: Basel

Below is a graph highlighting the number of passengers who travelled directly between Scotland and Basel.

As the above graph mentions, Edinburgh is the only Scottish Airport to have had a route to Basel since 2015. The period highlighted in Blue are the years most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Interestingly, despite the overall positive trend recorded in the general Swiss market, Basel has been a route that bucks that trend. Not only were passenger numbers down on last year, they have yet to recover to 2019 levels, and are actually hovering around 2015 levels.

easyJet is the sole operator on this route and currently uses its Swiss subsidiary – easyJet Switzerland to operate this route.

The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport for Summer 2025 shows another slight reduction in available flights and seats on this route.

Provisionally easyJet plans 6 less movements (3 return flights) and 1,116 less seats, this would equate to easyJet operating 6 less A320 flights on the route.

Planned capacity for this route in Summer 2025 stands at 334 movements (167 return flights) with 62,124 seats.

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Route Specific Numbers: Geneva

Below is a graph highlighting the number of passengers who travelled directly between Scotland and Geneva.

As the above graph mentions, Scotland’s three busiest airports all have service to Geneva. The period highlighted in Blue are the years most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Geneva continues to be the largest destination in Switzerland in terms of passengers, with all three airports recording an increase in passenger numbers in 2024 compared to 2023.

In terms of passenger numbers only, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow have recovered their passenger numbers compared to pre-pandemic, and have continued to increase their passenger numbers, however, Aberdeen appears to have lost a significant chunk of passenger numbers when compared to 2018.

Below is the market share data for each airport since 2015;

Despite the increase in passenger numbers at all three airports, the market share data reveals a different story, and a much needed reminder that statistics can be warped to tell whatever story you want, especially if you have a bias towards a certain airport.

When 2024 market share is compared to the year before, Aberdeen has the largest increase, followed by Edinburgh. Glasgow is the only one of the three airports to record a decrease in market share.

Looking ahead to Summer 2025, easyJet has made some changes to its schedules at both Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports.

In Edinburgh the following changes are planned for S25;

• easyJet Switzerland will add an additional 42 movements (21 round trips) and add an additional 7,812 seats.
  • This means EZS will operate 190 movements (95 round trips) and provide 35,340 seats.
• easyJet UK will not add any additional capacity on the route this summer.
  • This means EZY will operate 620 movements (310 round trips) and provide 115,320 seats.
• Jet2.com will add an additional 4 movements (2 round trips) and add an additional 756 seats.
  • This means LS will operate 12 movements (6 round trips) and provide 2,268 seats.

In Glasgow, the following changes are planned for S25;

• easyJet UK will add an additional 6 movements (3 round trips) and add an additional 1,236 seats.
  • This means EZY will operate 16 movements (8 round trips) and provide 2,976 seats.
• Jet2.com will add an additional 2 movements (1 round trip) and add an additional 378 seats.
  • This means LS will operate 6 movements (3 round trips) and provide 1,134 seats.

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Route Specific Numbers: Zurich

Below is a graph highlighting the number of passengers who travelled directly between Scotland and Zurich.

As the above graph mentions, Edinburgh is the only Scottish Airport to have had a route to Zurich since 2015. The period highlighted in Blue are the years most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zurich continues to be the real success story in terms of passenger numbers in the Swiss market, with passenger numbers consistently increasing, with additional flights being added on the route.

Edelweiss was the sole operator on this route, however, from May 2025 easyJet will start flying to Zurich, also from Edinburgh.

The recently published “Start of Season Report” for Edinburgh Airport for Summer 2025 shows another slight reduction in available flights and seats on this route.

The planned capacity growth for the Edinburgh to Zurich route is as follows;

• easyJet will operate 102 movements (51 round trips) and will provide 18,972 seats in Summer 2025.
• Edelweiss is showing as planning 478 movements (239 round trips) and providing 80,930 seats – movements on last year are up, but seats are down.
  • A big disclaimer is needed here, since the Start of Season report was published Edelweiss has since announced it will operate their new A350-900 on some of their Edinburgh flights from May, therefore, the number of seats will actually increase should the current number of flights remain the same.

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Final Thoughts

Passenger numbers continue to increase at all of Scotland’s Airports in the Swiss market, showing that demand appears to be robust across the country for both inbound and outbound market segments.

easyJet continues to be the largest airline in the market by some considerable margin, with Edelweiss in second and Jet2 in third.

It is too early to make any sort of prediction for the full year as airlines have yet to complete their winter 2025 schedules, however, it all three airlines operating in this market have the option to expand capacity without needing additional flights.

Edelweiss could continue to operate its A350 into winter, easyJet can upgrade Glasgow from A319’s to A320’s and Jet2 will also have the option to introduce their new A321 NEO aircraft onto their routes to replace the smaller Boeing 737-800’s.