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Zurich Airport is no longer making announcements in French – an unusual departure from multilingualism for travellers. Image: Flughafen Zürich AG

Zurich Airport says adieu to French

Zurich Airport is no longer making announcements in French – and instead is only using German and English. The airport operators justify the decision with a new ‘Silent Airport’ concept and user data.


French is no longer spoken at Switzerland's largest and most important airport. Due to a new concept of keeping announcements to a minimum, Zurich Airport now only uses German and English.

‘We are following an international trend‘, airport spokeswoman Livia Caluori told Keystone-SDA on Monday, confirming an article in the «Tages Anzeiger» (subscription). Other airports are also reducing the number of announcements in order to prioritise passenger comfort and relaxation.

The decision to discontinue French, one of Switzerland's national languages, was based on an analysis of user data, Caluori continued. Five years ago, the data from website usage was examined and it was found that the French version was only clicked on by one per cent of users.

However, French speakers are not completely lost thanks to new technologies. Almost every internet browser offers an integrated translator, as Caluori explained. This means that the website, which is in English and German, can be translated into any other language with just one click.

(TN)

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