After our early morning departure from runway 32, a magnificent view unfolds: Zurich Airport and the city still rest in dawn’s calm, while in the distance the Alps glow in with the first sunrays of the day. As Switzerland’s main gateway to the world, Zurich Airport connects the country at the heart of Europe with over 200 destinations worldwide.
Unlike most airports where the active runway configuration is determined primarily by wind direction, Zurich operates under a state treaty designed to distribute noise more evenly across surrounding areas and neighboring Germany. This concept generally foresees arrivals on runway 14 and departures from 28 during the day. In the morning, both takeoffs and landings are conducted northbound on runways 32 and 34, while in the evening, landings shift westward to runway 28 with northbound departures. Depending on weather and traffic conditions, these patterns may vary to ensure safe and efficient operations.
There are moments in my daily life above the clouds that I particularly treasure. These are moments when the mere mechanics of flying and operational matters briefly recede into the background, and I deeply appreciate the privilege of pursuing my dream profession. Beyond the wonderful encounters with crews and passengers, it's the views and atmospheres that continually captivate me. The early morning departure from my home base Zurich is one such moment. As we climb into the awakening sky and leave the sleeping world below, my gaze drifts to the glowing peaks of the Alps in the distance. This moment embodies the feeling that perfectly captures my professional life: the mixture of departure and connection, of farewell and homecoming. Every takeoff from the runways at ZRH is simultaneously a promise of return. It's a ritual that repeats hundreds of times and yet never loses its meaning.
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Departure Into a New Day
There's something deeply human about the desire to detach from the ground. Since time immemorial, people have looked upward, drawn by the notion of overcoming the bounds of gravity and traversing the space between heaven and earth. From the myths of Icarus to the first aviation pioneers, this dream runs like a thread through our history.
For over fifteen years, my dream of flying has been reality, and yet it has lost none of its magic. For me, every takeoff is a small miracle—the moment when hundreds of tons of metal, fuel, and people rise into the air, carried by physics, technology, and human skill. What may have become routine for some remains for me always a moment of reverence.
It's still pitch dark when I drive to the airport on days like these. The streets are empty, and the world seems still asleep. Arriving in the cockpit, we conduct our preflight checks and bring the aircraft to life. Even before most people wake or the sun rises, we take off into the new day. The moment of liftoff holds something transformative. As soon as the wheels lose contact with the earth, it feels as though different rules apply to gravity. Suddenly we're no longer bound to the structures of solid ground, and we glide through an element that knows no clear boundaries, where movement in all directions is possible, where only the laws of physics and our own abilities set the limits.
As we climb, the light transforms as well. What was darkness on the ground becomes a slowly awakening dawn at altitude. The first rays of sunlight reach the peaks of the Alps, bathing them in a golden, almost surreal light, while below the valleys still lie in shadow and light trails reveal the lifelines of our civilization. We climb toward the new day and will be among the first to receive the new light.
In the cockpit, the gentle hum of the engines accompanies us in the background, and the sunrise becomes more than just a meteorological event. It becomes a promise, a symbol of new beginnings, of the infinite possibilities that each day brings. Experiencing daybreak from a perspective denied to most people is one of the privileges for which I'm particularly grateful.
Home and Horizon
Working as a pilot means living in a permanent field of tension—between the longing for distance and the need for home, between the urge to depart and the desire to arrive. My home base Zurich embodies both. It's the place from which I explore the world, and simultaneously the place to which I return.
Switzerland is small, manageable, familiar. You can traverse the entire country in a few hours. And yet it's infinitely rich—in landscapes, in cultures, in history. From Zurich I can fly to Geneva in 30 minutes and cross two language regions in the process. I can see the snow-covered four-thousand-meter peaks while simultaneously viewing the Mediterranean-like valleys of Ticino. This density, this diversity in the smallest space, makes Switzerland something special.
And from here, from the foot of the Alps, we depart into the world. Zurich Airport connects over 200 destinations—a dense network of routes that links this small Alpine nation with practically every corner of the earth. It's as if we fan out in all directions from a fixed anchor, always with the certainty that this anchor holds, that we have a place to which we belong.
Zurich Airport is Switzerland's gateway to the world. It connects, welcomes, and creates possibilities. It's part of the foundation that makes Switzerland so successful. When I'm traveling in distant places and mention that I'm from Switzerland, I often learn from strangers what reputation Switzerland enjoys in the world: precise, reliable, beautiful, safe. It fills me with pride to call this country my home and to connect the world with it.
The Alps are for me a symbol of permanence in a world of movement. While we race through the air in a few hours at over 800 kilometers per hour, effortlessly crossing time zones and continents, the mountains remain where they are. They mark my home and the place to which I will always return. No matter how far my flights carry me—whether to Singapore or São Paulo, to New York or London—the moment when the Alps appear on the horizon during the return flight means coming home to me.
About the Image
The title image of my 2026 edition captures this magical moment between departure and connection. Shortly after takeoff from runway 32, we look back at our starting point. While the city still sleeps and the Alps in the distance already glow in the first light of day, what makes this place so special becomes visible: the unique location between Mittelland and mountains, between routine and adventure, between home and horizon. It's an image of departure into a new day, captured in that fleeting moment where night yields to morning and everything seems possible.
Shot on a Canon EOS R5 + Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art, ISO 6400, f/1.6, 1/100 sec.
About "Behind the Image"
In my photo calendar "Up in the Sky" I get to share my favorite aviation pictures with you. This blog series will complement the product and will tell the story about the moment the picture was taken. It will also share comprehensive information about what happend on the flight deck and how the picture was created.
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