Air Zermatt in continuous operation over the holidays
The festive season is one of the busiest times of the year for Air Zermatt. Between 24 December 2024 and 2 January 2025, Air Zermatt carried out a total of 112 helicopter rescue missions. At the same time, Air Zermatt's ambulances were also very busy. During the same period, they were called out on a total of 51 missions.
The 27 and 31 December 2024 were particularly busy, with the helicopter rescue crews carrying out 19 missions each day. The missions mainly involved winter sports accidents and medical emergencies. The rescue crews were also called out on several missions during the night.
Nevertheless, the holidays were slightly quieter for Air Zermatt compared to the previous year. There are many reasons for this development: weather conditions, snow conditions and the constellation of public holidays have a significant impact on the number of missions.
A look at the figures for 2024 as a whole shows that it was not just the public holidays that were intense. Air Zermatt's helicopters were called out on almost 2,100 missions last year, which is almost the same as the previous year. The ambulances were also deployed just as frequently as in the previous year, with over 1,100 missions.
Ready for emergencies around the clock
Every year, Air Zermatt consciously prepares for the increased number of holiday guests in the operational area during the festive season. Accordingly, the organisation's deployment is increased to ensure optimum operational readiness. During the high season, three rescue helicopters with pilots, paramedics and emergency doctors are on standby around the clock at the helicopter bases in Gampel, Raron and Zermatt. In the event of a major incident, such as a large avalanche, Air Zermatt and Air-Glaciers can jointly deploy up to 11 helicopters for rescues in Valais within a very short space of time.
The deployment figures over the holiday period and the measures taken underline Air Zermatt's high level of operational readiness - both in air rescue and in ground-based rescue services.
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