Passengers at Bern-Belp have reported that a brand new, rather fuzzy member of staff has been on call: the “best manager” at the Swiss airport, a cat. The flight-minded feline is known to roam the airport’s terminal and has even been pictured greeting passengers off planes.
Speaking to 20 Minuten, officials at Bern-Belp Airport said that a cat has decided to make its home in the airport. The silver and black kitty has been pictured walking around the terminal building, nuzzling departing passengers and lounging on the taxiway next to the planes.
This fact was celebrated by Helvetic Airways, who said that “Fritz” was ensuring “purrfect flight operations this summer.” The post has propelled the cat to fame on the internet, with commenters saying that it “owns the airport… buy him a yellow vest” and that he is the “best manager at the airport.”
"I have been working at the airport for five years and see the cat every day," Bern-Belp CEO Urs Ryf told 20 Minuten. He said that the cat has been returned to its owner in Bern several times “but without success.” Despite being called Fritz by Helvetic, he confirmed that the cat does not have a fixed name: "some call her Fritz Zwei, or simply Büsi or Moudi."
So what does a day in the life of an airport cat look like? The cat is known to sleep in the airport information centre, which is manned 24 hours a day. "Every day I see her walking across the apron and spot her hunting mice," Ryf noted. "She often observes the air traffic and waits until a plane is parked and the engines are turned off. Then she goes to the stairs and greets the passengers. She receives appropriate pets from many travellers."
Amazingly, the cat has never disrupted flights at Bern-Belp - a seasonal airport usually used during the holidays - as she avoids the outdoors once the engines spool up. When asked why a cat would want to find a home at Bern-Belp, Ryf said the “main reason is that there is always someone there and many workers and visitors are interested in the animal. They get lots of petting."
However, the airport's new pet isn’t as trailblazing as first thought: between 1996 and his death in 2001, Bern-Belp was home to another cat called Fritz. "Fritz was the mouthpiece of the then director Charles Riesen and had his own column in the airport magazine," Ryf said.