The Gstaad-Saanen airport lies in the heart of the Alps in a wonderful region of Switzerland that is steeped in tradition and where you can be close to nature.
Visitors from all around the world travel here in private aircraft. Our team extends a personal welcome to you at Gstaad Airport in the Saanenland. We look forward to welcoming you.
At Gstaad Airport, we offer you the General Aviation services necessary for trouble-free landing and take-off, such as handling, PPR requests, refuelling, parking, as well as customs and passport controls (Schengen/Non-Schengen). We are here for you if you have any questions about your flight or stay.
We cooperate with reliable partners for taxi flights, transportation of goods, heli-skiing, helicopter rescue services, charter flights and maintenance. You can read more about the services of our partners here.
| Operating Hours | Aircraft | Helicopters |
| Winter (dec– march): | 0800LT – HRH | 0800LT – 2000LT |
| Summer (june – sept): | 0800LT – HRH, latest 2000LT | 0800LT – 2000LT |
| Low season: | 0800LT – HRH, latest 2000LT | 0800LT – 2000LT |
| Office Hours | ||
| PPR-Requests | 0800LT – 1700LT | 0800LT – 1700LT |
Outside office hours by arrangement
Customs:
PPR
– 3 HR before ARR
– 2 HR before DEP
– no customs clearance for goods
Everything started with the Swiss National Redoubt Strategy in the Second World War. With the concentration of the armed forces in the Alps, the military airfields located in the Swiss Central Plateau region were not adequately defended, therefore they had to be replaced by airfields in the Redoubt zone. This is the reason why the construction of the Saanen airfield was ordered.
In October 1939, the preparations for this new military airfield were finalised and Saanen could be covered. However, the airfield consisted of just a large reed bed which had to be rolled level and gradually drained. But with the introduction of heavier aircraft, the rolled grass runway was no longer good enough. So at the beginning of 1942, construction of the hard-surfaced runway measuring 900 x 40 metres then started. At the same time, the taxiing areas were hardened and drained, access roads and bridges were built and any obstacles to safe takes-off and landings removed. The new runway was became operational at the end of 1942.
After the active war years, the Cold War then dominated and the military occupation of Saanen was increased even further. As property of the military, the airfield became a “no-go area” for private pilots, making them all the more anxious to fly here. In 1970, there was no entry for the Saanen airfield in the “Aero Almanac”,
a forerunner of today’s “Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP)” and it was also rarely shown on maps of that time, as it was still subject to military secrecy until the late 1980s. The first time exceptional approval was given for use by civil aviation was in 1946. This meant the ban for domestic pilots of powered aircraft and gliders was therefore lifted. Those responsible for tourism in Saanen did not wait long. Once the ban was lifted it only took a year before a flight demonstration was announced for the local residents by the Hoteliers’ Association together with the Gstaad Tourist Office.
In 1965 Aérodrome Régional de Montreux SA (later Aeroleasing SA Geneva), as the first civil operator of the aerodrome, was ambitious enough to develop a civil infrastructure. The first Air Sarina was founded in 1979, later in 1984, Air Glaciers moved into its offices in Saanen and then in 1986 the Gstaad-Saanenland Flight Cooperative (“FGGS”) was founded with the primary objective of securing civil air transport and repairing the runway. It required lots of commitment from private individuals sponsorships and companies to turn the military airfield into an airport that was suitable for civil air traffic. Thanks to the founding of the Airport Cooperative, the commitment of Air Glaciers and the entrepreneurial spirit of Aeroleasing boss Ernst Saxer, as well as TAG Aviation, for transforming a military air base into a general air travel in the Saanenland.
“Come up, touch-down: history and stories of flight in the Saanenland” reveals the final secrets of the highly confidential airfield in Saanen.
This book leads you through the history of this airbase in an entertaining and exciting way: from the time it was opened and the strict maintenance of secrecy to the beginnings of civil use in the 1940s and when it was eventually taken over by civil organisations. It particularly focuses on the specific conditions of the region that have made the airport what it is today. The text is accompanied by many pictures guaranteed to get the hearts of aviation fans beating faster.
Impressum
Title: Come up, touch down: history and stories of flight in the Saanenland
Publisher and author: Lukas Kappenberger
Co-authors: Röbi Möhl and René Zürcher
Publishing house: Müller Medien AG, Gstaad
Graphics and layout: Müller Marketing & Druck AG, Gstaad
Printing and production:
Müller Marketing & Druck AG, Gstaad/Egger AG, Frutigen
Paper: printed on Claro Silk by Antalis AG
Edition: 1,000 2016
Copyright © All rights reserved. Without the express permission of the publisher, this work or parts thereof may neither be reproduced, duplicated, processed, transmitted nor copied, for example manually or with the aid of electronic or mechanical systems, including photocopying, tape recording and data storage.
ISBN: 978-3-907041-66-6
Front cover picture: Lukas Kappenberger
Rear cover picture: René Zürcher
Price: CHF 75.-
Shipping: Switzerland CHF 7.-, other countries on request
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