Contents
The airport wants to extend two runways. Parliament gives the green light, but the people should have the last word.
As expected, the vote was extremely close. Although there were some dissenters, a slim majority said yes to extending runway 28 to the west and runway 32 to the north. With 87 to 33 votes, the majority of SVP, FDP, EDU, center and EVP prevailed.
The Council majority particularly emphasized the security aspect. With the extension of two runways, the complexity of the approach and departure regime can be reduced. This is a special challenge due to the crossing slopes. “With this template, facts are crucial, ideology should not play a role,” said SVP cantonal councilor Marcel Suter in the council.
The responsible government councilor Carmen Walker Späh (FDP) also campaigned for a yes to the extension of the runway. This mainly leads to more stability in flight operations and less noise pollution. The communities in the east and north would be a little more affected than today, but the more densely populated areas south of the airport would have significantly less aircraft noise, says Walker Späh. Overall, therefore, fewer people are affected by noise.
In this template, facts are crucial, ideology should not play a role.
SP, Greens, AL and GLP feared in their votes that there would be more flights due to the expansion of the runways. Flughafen Zürich AG does not want to commit itself to a binding capacity limit, said David Galeuchet from the Greens. “Anyone who protects the population does not expand the slopes.”
Parliament now has the only chance to influence the capacity.
Rosmarie Joss from the SP also emphasized that air traffic should not be expanded in times of climate change. “Parliament now has the only chance to influence the capacity.” The airport cannot be trusted on this issue, says Joss. However, this argument did not convince a majority in the Zurich cantonal council.
Referendum almost certain
Either way, the electorate in the canton of Zurich will most likely have the last word. The left-wing parties have already announced the referendum. The matter is therefore likely to be put to the ballot box next year. So far, votes in the canton of Zurich have often been in favor of the airport. However, the climate issue has gained in importance in recent years.
A prognosis is therefore difficult. The surveys have so far not shown any clear tendencies either. In a representative NZZ survey at the beginning of the year, a slim majority was in favor of extending the slopes. In the Tamedia newspapers, on the other hand, a majority is clearly opposed to growth at the airport. The actual outcome of the referendum is therefore likely to depend heavily on the course of the voting campaign.
If the request goes through, then the construction work to extend the runways would start in 2030 at the earliest. Flughafen Zürich AG would bear the costs of CHF 250 million.