SWISS cancelled 125 flights during severe storm

A severe storm on August 28 resulted in Swiss International Air Lines cancelling 125 flights.

This affected a total of 15,572 passengers, as a SWISS spokesperson told the AWP news agency. “This figure includes not only flights that were cancelled on Friday itself, but also later flights that we had to cancel as a result of the storm and the resulting disruptions to our flight operations.”

More

More

Climate solutions

When Switzerland launched rockets to fight hail

This content was published on

Aug 31, 2026


Switzerland pioneered the artificial modification of clouds, known as cloud seeding, which many countries now practise. However, recent experiments to reduce hail damage have not produced the desired results.

Read more: When Switzerland launched rockets to fight hail

Such an event quickly leads to a huge “domino effect” in flight operations, said the spokesperson. “If we have to cancel a flight, the aircraft and its crew are no longer where they are needed for the next scheduled flight. At the same time, we have to organise new connections for the passengers affected.”

Furthermore, due to the sometimes significant delays, numerous connecting flights were missed. All of this, in turn, affects further flights and passengers and can have a knock-on effect across the entire flight schedule for several days.

+ How Switzerland is trying to defeat extreme weather events 

Teams at the operations centre worked through the night to organise the best possible alternatives for passengers and to stabilise flight operations. “Given the scale of the situation, this was an exceptional situation for us too,” said the spokesperson.

SWISS will cover the resulting support costs for the affected passengers. “Depending on the situation, this includes the cost of a hotel stay, transport to and from the hotel, and meals until the next available connecting flight,” said the spokesperson.

SWISS had already been severely affected by a storm over Zurich airport at the end of June. At the time, the thunderstorm raged over Switzerland’s largest airport for 2.5 hours, leading to operational disruptions.

As a result, 26 aircraft had to divert to other airports. In total, over 10,000 passengers were affected by the thunderstorm on June 30.

More

More

Workplace

Swiss summer storm damage to cost insurers hundreds of millions of francs

This content was published on

Sep 3, 2026


According to initial estimates by insurers, damage caused by a violent storm at the end of August will be at least in the three-digit million range, a survey shows.

Read more: Swiss summer storm damage to cost insurers hundreds of millions of francs

+ How we produce news in English
Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.