Editor in chief at IamExpat Media
Late last year, the Swiss Federal Council took possession of a brand new jet plane. The Bombardier Global 7500 came in at an estimated cost of 103 million Swiss francs, but the expenses don’t end there: the new, larger plane doesn’t fit into the federal hangar at Bern-Belp Airport, forcing the Federal Council to scramble to find somewhere to store it.
The Federal Council recently treated itself to the “world’s largest business jet with the longest range”, Blick reports. The jet, which has a wingspan of 31,79 metres, can seat 19, reach a cruising speed of 982 km / h and has a range of up to 14.000 kilometres - which could take it to Sydney in Australia.
Unfortunately, all of that power means that the new aircraft is significantly larger than the previous Federal Council jets, so much so that it cannot fit inside the hangars owned by the federal government at the airport outside Bern.
Bern Airport AG has therefore decided to go ahead with a project to completely rebuild one of its existing hangars, which dates to the 1920s. The rebuild cost is estimated to be several million francs - money which the airport will recoup by charging the federal government to rent the space.
However, it will be at least another two years until the hangar at Bern-Belp Airport is ready, forcing the Federal Council to look for an interim solution. Army spokesperson Delphine Schwab-Allemand told Blick that in the meantime the federal jet will be relocated to a military airfield in Payerne in Vaud.
But that’s also proving to be an expensive solution - since the government’s own hangars at the Payerne airfield are too small to house the jet, it has been forced to pay to rent a larger hangar.
The whole expensive affair has only been made possible by a budgetary sleight of hand: the government’s strained finances in 2024 and 2025 would not have allowed the purchase of the new jet, but the Federal Council pushed the costs into the 2023 budget at the last minute as an addition.
The jets are used to transport members of the Federal Council, as well as for evacuations and aid in the event of emergencies or humanitarian disasters abroad.
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