Any visitor to Zermatt will inevitably notice the helicopters from Air Zermatt flying overhead at some point during their stay.
Last weekend, the fleet of Air Zermatt helicopters were brought into action for on-mountain rescues over 40 times.
In addition, the Air Zermatt ambulance service was called to 17 more missions, mostly for skiing accidents.
With above-average temperatures and bright sunshine, the start of the winter holidays has brought a lot of skiers and snowboarders to Zermatt’s famous slopes.
Air Zermatt to the rescue
Unfortunately, not everyone enjoyed a perfect day of skiing, but the good news is that on those rare occasions when things did go awry, Air Zermatt rescuers stepped in to recover the situation.
The Valais rescue organization called on the Air Zermatt helicopter crews for 23 rescue missions on Saturday and 18 on Sunday. It was so busy that at points, at least three helicopters were all in the air at the same time.
Injured holidaymakers were mainly flown to the hospitals in Visp and Sion, with two trips to Bern.
Taking off from Zermatt
Over 57,000 rescues
Air Zermatt was founded in 1968 and regularly sets new international standards. They have been awarded the highly regarded ‘Heroism Award’ aviation award three times.
The Air Zermatt rescue service has performed over 57,000 rescues and flies around 3000 missions every year.
The current fleet includes 11 helicopters (two Bell 429, two EC 135, one H 130 T2 and six H 125 B3 Écureuils.
Fly an Air Zermatt helicopter yourself
Visitors to Zermatt can try flying one of Air Zermatt’s helicopters themselves in a high-tech Virtual Reality simulator.
We can book a VR flight for guests of Matterhorn Chalets via our concierge service.
Accommodation in Zermatt
For help booking accommodation in Zermatt, please contact Ed or Suzanne on +41 79 247 15 88.
