Flughafen Zuerich chairman sees business travel rebound in 2022 -paper

ZURICH (Reuters) - The chairman of airport operator Flughafen Zuerich expects business travel to rebound next year, he told a newspaper, adding the Swiss group remained financially sound despite the hit from the coronavirus epidemic.

"My personal assessment is I don't think we will see a big recovery in business travel this year. But in 2022 there will be a strong upward trend," Andreas Schmid told the Tages-Anzeiger paper in an interview published on Monday.

He said it was important to offer as many direct connections as possible to the whole world. "However, some destinations will be served less often than before. Perhaps only one plane will take off a day where three used to," he added.

He noted the group's cash situation was "very good" and it was well capitalised.

"We need at least 50% of the pre-pandemic air traffic to be in the black. According to our forecasts, we are at that point in December. We are in a stable, solid position," he said.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)