Zurich Airport opened the new superlative service center The Circle on Thursday morning. As an independent quarter, The Circle offers several thousand jobs as well as shops, restaurants and hotels on the edge of the slopes in Kloten.
A large congress center and a health center with a university hospital were also built on a total area of 180,000 square meters. The semicircular circle and its park are directly connected to the airport terminals. The airport speaks of an exterior quality that hardly exists at airports around the world.
Shops, restaurants and a new park have been open to the public since Thursday. The Circle was opened after more than five years of construction by the co-owners, Flughafen Zürich AG and the insurance group Swiss Life, and presented to the media.
Andreas Schmid, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zurich Airport, emphasized that the two companies had implemented the major project entirely on their own. The investments amounted to 1.2 billion Swiss francs. Schmid said he was proud that the construction costs were “kept under control”.
The Circle will liven up Kloten and Zurich North, said the airport manager. The mix of offers makes it very lively for visitors but also for the people who work there. The offer of the “campus-like center” also fits very well with air traffic.
Rolf Dörig, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Swiss Life, even spoke of a new district in Kloten. It is a district where you can meet, he emphasized. The concept is “courageous and future-oriented”.
According to Circle boss Stefan Feldmann, 80 percent of the area was rented across all areas on the opening day. Even during the corona pandemic, it was possible to conclude new rental contracts for retail space.
«Second city center of Kloten»
The opening of The Circle was the most important occasion of his term in office, explained Kloten’s Mayor René Huber. “As of now, Kloten has two city centers,” he said. The Circle turns the airport into a center for business and lifestyle. The city of Kloten receives “several thousand good jobs”. In addition, regional health care is making a “quantum leap”.
The new University Hospital Zurich Airport offers highly specialized outpatient medicine on eight floors, explained the Director of the University Hospital Zurich (USZ), Gregor Zünd. In addition to an emergency permanence for adults and one for children, there are consultation hours in almost all departments of the USZ. Various outpatient operations are also carried out.
With the location at the airport, the USZ wants to bring outpatient care to the “large traffic flows”, said the hospital director. He praised the very good connection to public and individual traffic at the airport.
With The Circle, the airport also wants to position itself as an “excellently developed business location” at the interface between the city and internationality. According to information from The Circle, several international companies already have their headquarters in the new service district. (sda / wid)
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