Climate change will cost Switzerland billions over the coming decades; Zurich Airport faces jet fuel shortage; and more news in our Friday roundup.
Climate change will cost Switzerland billions over the coming decades
This is the finding of a government study assessing potential damages up to the year 2060 under various climate scenarios.
“We focused on the most significant risks for Switzerland – primarily heatwaves and droughts,” said Raphael Bucher, head of climate policy at the Federal Office for the Environment,
However, the study does not cover all climate-related risks, so “the total costs of climate change for Switzerland could be significantly higher than what the research indicates,” he pointed out.
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Zurich Airport faces jet fuel shortage, prompting the government to tap mandatory reserves
Due to delivery problems, Zurich Airport is at risk of running out of jet fuel.
To keep the airplanes flying, the government “has temporarily authorised the withdrawal of limited volumes of fuel from mandatory reserves,” the Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES) said on Thursday.
Specifically, withdrawals of up to 30,000 m³ are permitted between October 15th and November 1st, 2026, FONES said.
It added that “Switzerland’s supply of petrol, diesel, and heating oil has deteriorated compared to the previous week but remains secure.”
READ MORE: Could Switzerland experience fuel shortages this autumn?
Because of their nationalities, some SWISS crew membrs are banned from working on Israel-bound flights
After FlyDubai’s Omani co-pilot attacked the captain of an Israel-bound flight with an ax in September, the Israeli government has issued instructions to airlines, including SWISS, forbidding crew members of certain nationalities to fly to Tel-Aviv.
“The Israeli authorities have informed us that we are not permitted to assign crew members of certain nationalities to flights to Israel,” said Silvia Exer-Kuhn, the airline’s spokesperson.
She did not say which nationals are targeted by the ban,
Also, “it makes no difference whether a crew member holds the citizenship of one of these countries exclusively or also possesses Swiss citizenship,” she said.
This ban concerns pilots as well as flight attendants.
Also in travel news…
EasyJet to add a new Italian destination from Basel EuroAirport
The low-cost airline announced on Thursday the launch of a new route between Basel and the Italian island of Pantelleria, located just south of Sicily.
Two flights per week will operate on this route starting on May 29th, 2027.
This destination joins others that the airline will inaugurate in the summer from EuroAirport, such as to Sarajevo starting on May 10th, and to Tivat from June 30th with two weekly flights in each case.
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