Air Travel
The entire country of Switzerland is smaller in area than the state of West Virginia, so flying from one region to another is a luxury that, considering how efficient the trains are, few travelers require—unless there's a convenient connection from your intercontinental arrival point (Geneva, Zürich) to a smaller airport (Basel, Bern, Lugano, and Sion).
In Switzerland you will not usually need to check in more than an hour before boarding. Be sure to check your airline's limit on checked and carry-on luggage; most airlines accept one carry-on item, although Swiss and other national carriers will turn a blind eye to two.
For 22 SF per bag, passengers on Swiss and partner airlines who fly into Zürich or Geneva airports with tickets on Swiss Federal Railways can forward their luggage to their final destination, allowing them to travel unencumbered. For the return trip, baggage check-in and airline boarding passes can be arranged at more than 30 train stations around Switzerland, but this can only be done less than 36 hours in advance; Swiss passengers can collect their luggage at their final destination airport, and passengers on other airlines can pick it up from the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) counter at the Zürich or Geneva airports.
Flying time to Geneva or Zürich is about 1 hour from London, 8 hours from New York, 9 hours from Chicago, 11 hours from Los Angeles, 11 hours from San Francisco, and 23 to 25 hours from Sydney.
Airports
The major gateways into the country are the Zürich Airport (ZRH) and Geneva's Cointrin Airport (GVA). Most Swiss flights will fly via Zürich Airport, the airline's hub. Be sure to allow yourself at least an hour to transfer to your connecting flight. The EuroAirport on the outskirts of Basel is used by many airlines as a stopover and has low-cost flights to numerous destinations across Europe. Its proximity to Zürich makes it very convenient.
Contacts
EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. 03/89903111; www.euroairport.com.
Genève Aéroport. 022/7177105; www.gva.ch.
Zürich Airport. 043/8162211; www.zurich-airport.com.
Flights
Swiss flies from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Montréal, and New York–JFK to Zürich, as well as from New York and Montréal to Geneva. United flies from New York–JFK, Newark, and Washington–Dulles to Geneva and from Washington–Dulles, Miami, Chicago, Houston, Newark, Boston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to Zürich. American Airlines connects Philadelphia with Zürich, and Delta flies from New York–JFK to Zürich.
British Airways flies from London to Geneva and Zürich, and KLM flies from Amsterdam to the two Swiss cities. Other options to Geneva include easyJet (from London and many European cities), Adria Airways Switzerland (from Lugano, Rome, Dusseldorf, and other European cities), flybe (from locations throughout the United Kingdom), and Vueling (from Barcelona, Rome, and Gran Canaria). If you're headed to Zürich, then easyJet (from London Gatwick and Luton, Amsterdam, Berlin, Lisbon, Nice, Venice, and others) and Vueling (from Rome, Barcelona Alicante, Lisbon, Prague, and more) are the main low-cost carriers. Finally, easyJet also flies from Basel's EuroAirport to nearly 60 European destinations.
Contacts
American Airlines. 800/4337300; 0848/289–289; www.aa.com.
British Airways. 0844/493–0787; 044/8009222; www.britishairways.com.
Delta Airlines. 800/221–1212; 800/241–4141; 0848/000872; www.delta.com.
easyJet. 0848/282828; 0330/3655000; www.easyjet.com.
flybe. 0371/7002000; 0207/3080812; www.flybe.com.
KLM. 020/4747747; 0848/874444; www.klm.com.
Swiss. 877/359–7947; 0848/700700; www.swiss.com.
United Airlines. 800/864–8331; 022/4177280; www.united.com.
Vueling. 0900/000370; 093/1221291; 093/1518158; www.vueling.com.
