The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) stipulate that an emergency organisation must be exercised every two years at international airports with regular scheduled services. These large-scale emergency drills are organised by Flughafen Zürich AG in close cooperation with its partners and supervised by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA). 

Numerous organisations and airport partners involved 

The aim of the "DURO23" exercise was to enable the emergency services and organisations to train their procedures in an environment that is as realistic as possible and to gain knowledge for an emergency. In addition to various organisational units of Flughafen Zürich AG, the Zurich Cantonal Police, Schutz & Rettung Zürich, SWISS, various handling agents, Airport Emergency Teams, the Zurich Public Prosecutor's Office and the Cantonal Civil Protection Company were also trained. At the same time, Zurich Airport's back-end emergency organisation – the crisis team, crisis information and support services – was called out and trained. 

Realistic scenario 

In the scenario of the emergency drills, those responsible rely on realistic events and locations. In this year's "DURO23" emergency exercise, the event included a damaged landing of an A220 aircraft, a fire in a building caused by the crash and an accident involving a tour bus. 

A total of around 400 trained people and around 180 extras – including a school class – were involved in the emergency exercise. In addition, around 50 people took care of the organisation of the exercise. The results will now be evaluated and incorporated into a detailed overall assessment. The findings from the final report are intended to contribute to the further optimisation of Zurich Airport's emergency organisation.