Between April 15th and May 20th, 2026, Basel EuroAirport will be renovating its main runway, causing all but one of its airlines to cancel their flights during this time.
The airport does have a smaller, secondary runway which could be used during the renovation work, but according to spokesperson Manuela Witzig, all but one airline has judged the alternate runway to be too short for their aircraft to take off and land safely
While more than 25 companies which regularly use the airport have suspended their operations for the five weeks in question, one will continue to fly.
“For the duration of the refurbishment work, only EasyJet will maintain an adjusted selection of flight destinations out of EuroAirport,” the airport said on its website. “These flight services will be reduced compared to the regular summer schedule but will continue to ensure connections to key European metropolitan areas as well as to selected leisure and city destinations.”
Reduced schedule
The low-cost carrier, the main airline operating out of Basel with a market share of 55 percent – will continue to operate seven flights daily, representing approximately 15 percent of its usual activity in that airport.
It will use a small aircraft, the Airbus 320, to fly only to nearby destinations, such as Hamburg, Palermo, London, Palma de Mallorca, Porto, and Barcelona.
The reason is that the shorter the distance, the less fuel the plane carries – and being light makes the use of the secondary runway possible.
EasyJet’s regular flights requiring longer journey times will be suspended during this period.
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Nevertheless, challenges remain: the secondary runway lacks an instrument landing system (ILS), which means that pilots must land visually – depending only on their eyesight.
For that, a minimum visibility of at least five kilometres is required, and difficult weather conditions such as thunderstorms, heavy rain, or strong winds can restrict operations.
