Air Zermatt looks back on a record year marked by a high level of operational readiness
On Saturday afternoon, Air Zermatt AG invited its shareholders to its base in Raron for the 57th Annual General Meeting. The Valais helicopter company looked back on an exceptionally intense and eventful 2025 financial year. The annual review clearly demonstrated that, over the past year, Air Zermatt was not only a reliable partner in rescue missions, but also in dealing with natural events.
With 6,700 flight hours, Air Zermatt recorded a new all-time high in 2025. The company also reached new record levels in the field of rescue operations: more than 2,200 helicopter rescue missions were flown last year — more than ever before in the company’s history. In addition, ambulance missions rose slightly compared with the previous year to more than 800. “These figures underline Air Zermatt’s consistently high level of operational readiness and its central importance in pre-hospital care in Valais,” said Chairman Philipp Perren as he opened the Annual General Meeting.
Challenged by natural events in Upper Valais
In addition to its intensive rescue operations, Air Zermatt was also heavily involved in responding to several natural events in 2025. Around Easter, Upper Valais was hit by wet, heavy snow. The masses of snow caused major damage, particularly to trees that had already come into leaf. “The consequences of the snow pressure kept Air Zermatt busy for months. At times, up to five helicopters were deployed every day to fly fallen and damaged timber out of the forests,” CEO Daniel Aufdenblatten recalled. These operations required the highest degree of flexibility, forward planning and precision — both in mission control and among the crews.
Central role in the Blatten disaster
The deployment in the Lötschental was particularly significant in 2025. When the first reconnaissance flights to the Kleines Nesthorn began in mid-May, the scale of the situation was not yet foreseeable. At the end of May, disaster struck: the village of Blatten was buried by a massive cone of debris. Air Zermatt played an important role in managing this once-in-a-century event.
“From the end of May, Air Zermatt provided a helicopter coordinator, several helicopters, crews and specialist equipment on a daily basis. Air Zermatt coordinated all helicopters deployed and temporarily took a seat on the Lötschental command staff. The range of missions was broad and demanding: it included the evacuation of people and animals, reconnaissance flights with geologists as well as representatives of municipal, cantonal and federal authorities, material transports for the fire brigade, police and command staff, logging operations, laser scanning, the transport of oil barriers and daily worker transport flights for monitoring tasks,” said Daniel Aufdenblatten.
The cooperation with all partner organisations was shaped by one common goal: to provide the best possible support to the people of the Lötschental. Air Zermatt also sent a special signal of solidarity on two Saturdays, when it enabled the residents of Blatten to see their buried village from the air free of charge. For many of those affected, this gesture helped them grasp the scale of the tragedy and begin to process what had happened.
Deeply affected by fire in Crans-Montana
Air Zermatt was deeply shaken by the fire in Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve 2025/2026. Together with Air-Glaciers, Air Zermatt deployed a total of six helicopters to assist the affected people as quickly as possible. Great thanks are due to all emergency responders who acted with the utmost dedication in this extraordinary situation and were also placed under considerable emotional strain.
Strong regional roots and committed employees
Air Zermatt currently employs 89 permanent staff. Together with Air-Glaciers, more than 220 employees are on duty every day with great dedication. With its record year in 2025, Air Zermatt underlines its role as a high-performance air rescue and helicopter company that also assumes responsibility for the population in extraordinary situations, in close cooperation with its partner organisations.
