Private jet from Madrid to St Moritz in winter:
the constraints at Samedan and what to secure in advance

A private flight from Madrid to St Moritz in winter is decided less by the choice of aircraft than by three conditions the destination imposes: a mountain airport that operates only in daylight in winter, a crew that must meet requirements specific to that airport, and a calendar in which a single week, that of the World Economic Forum in Davos, can change the rules of access.

What follows brings together what the official sources publish: Samedan airport, skyguide, the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation, Swiss customs and the Engadin tourist office. Where a fact is not stated in an official source, we say so and leave it as something to confirm for the specific date. The season dates cited refer to winter 2026-27; the full calendar of events is in our guide to the winter season in St Moritz.

1. Why St Moritz in winter is not just another flight

The reference airport is Engadin Airport, at Samedan (LSZS), about 5 km from St Moritz. It lies 1,707 m above sea level (5,600 ft) and, according to the airport itself, is the highest in Europe. It has an 1,800 m runway, designated 03/21, and the approach and departure cross several mountain passes into a narrow Alpine valley.

None of this rules out flying private: it is a civil aerodrome open to private, commercial and business flights, with an average of around 15,000 movements a year over the last five years, of which close to 20% are jets or turboprops. What changes is the margin. Four factors narrow it in winter:

• The time window: in winter the airport closes at the end of evening civil twilight. The departure time from Madrid is worked out backwards from that limit.
• The crew: every pilot flying to Samedan must first complete a familiarisation briefing and test. Choosing the aircraft is not enough; the crew has to be chosen too.
• The airspace: IFR routes depend on military activity in eastern Switzerland, and access is restricted during the WEF in Davos.
• The border: Switzerland is in Schengen but outside the EU Customs Union, so a flight from Madrid still goes through customs for goods.

2. Samedan in peak season: what the airport requires, and of whom

Winter hours: a daylight window

Samedan operates 365 days a year. In winter it opens at 08:00 local time and operates until the end of evening civil twilight; in summer, from 08:00 to 19:00. There are no night operations within those published hours. In practice, the cut-off moves with the date and is short in midwinter: a departure from Madrid that runs late may no longer fit within the window, and it is wise to have decided beforehand what happens in that case.

Crew: mandatory briefing and recent experience

The airport requires every pilot, on aircraft in ICAO approach categories A and B/C and on helicopters, to complete a familiarisation briefing and test before departing for Samedan. The confirmation must be carried on board, on paper or electronically, and shown on request. It is valid for two years.

In addition, the airport's familiarisation briefing sets out a qualification and recency table, under which a pilot of category B or above who has not landed at Samedan in the last 24 months may only arrive under IFR, with FEW or CAVOK weather, or under the supervision of a pilot with current experience at the airport. The consequence for whoever is chartering is direct: the question for the operator is not only which aircraft is available, but which crew can fly it to Samedan on that date.

Flight plans and military zones

According to the skyguide guidelines published by the airport, routes to Samedan depend on military activity in the TRA zones of eastern Switzerland (LS-T 51 CALANDA, LS-T 52 BEVERIN, LS-T 53 TARASP and LS-T 61 CORVATSCH) and in the restricted area LS-R11/R11A. With those zones active, full IFR flight plans are not accepted, only Y plans, that is, IFR changing to VFR. It is a point resolved by the operator's dispatch, but it explains why the weather at destination weighs so heavily in the decision on the day.

Samedan has approach procedures based on satellite navigation: the AIP supplement that skyguide published for the WEF 2026 temporarily suspended the RNAV approach to runway 21 and the visual approach with RNP guidance to runway 03, which confirms that they exist outside those dates.

WEF week in Davos

This is the window that most alters access. In the 2026 edition, with restricted area LS-R90 active on 16 January and from 19 to 24 January, airspace was limited within a radius of 25 nautical miles around Davos and PPR was mandatory for Y and Z flight plans to and from Samedan. The airport also warned that a Samedan PPR number does not in itself authorise flight within LS-R90: they are separate authorisations.

The skyguide AIP supplement for that period suspended the approach procedures mentioned above, set the GUGSA waypoint as the IFR clearance limit and required flights unable to change to VFR by that point at the latest to divert to their alternate. For state flights in 2026, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation went as far as prohibiting Zurich or Geneva from being declared as the alternate for Samedan. That rule applied only to those flights and to that edition, but it illustrates that, in that week, not even the alternate can be taken for granted.

For 2027, the official Davos website places the forum from 18 to 22 January. The airspace restrictions for that edition, including their exact dates, have not yet been published. If your trip falls in those weeks, the reference is the official notice from the airport and skyguide when it appears, not the previous year's experience.

Outside WEF week, the official sources consulted do not state any PPR or slot regime for Samedan, not even at Christmas or New Year. That is an absence of publication, not a guarantee: availability for a specific date is confirmed with the airport through the operator.

Customs and entry into Switzerland

Switzerland has been part of the Schengen area since 12 December 2008, according to the State Secretariat for Migration, but it does not belong to the EU Customs Union: checks on goods continue at its borders. Samedan has customs service throughout its operating hours and is designated a Schengen external border, so it also accepts direct arrivals from outside the Schengen area.

• VAT above CHF 150: according to the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security, goods up to a total value of CHF 150 enter VAT-free. The limit applies once per person per day, children included, and if it is exceeded VAT is charged on the total value.
• Personal effects: items that a non-resident uses during their stay and takes back out of the country, such as clothing, sports equipment, cameras, phones or computers, enter free of tax and duty.
• Allowances: these apply per person per day. Goods for private use or given as gifts are exempt, except for so-called sensitive goods, on which any amount above the allowance is taxed. Exact quantities, for example of alcohol or tobacco, should be checked in the current Swiss customs table before travelling.

Samedan in published figures

Data checked on 11 September 2026 against the official publications cited. Operating conditions may change; the reference for each flight is the current information from the airport and the Swiss AIP.

3. When Samedan is not the answer: alternatives and the final leg

Samedan is the closest arrival point, but not always a feasible one. If the arrival time does not fit within the daylight window, if the weather prevents the flight from finishing visually or if WEF week closes access, the flight has to end at another airport and the journey has to be completed by land. The Engadin St. Moritz tourist office names Zurich, Milan and Innsbruck as the nearest international airports.

Indicative distances and times from Engadin St. Moritz Tourismus, referring to the Engadine rather than to St Moritz or a specific airport, and not taking winter conditions into account. Zurich data from Slot Coordination Switzerland; Lugano data from Lugano Airport and its qualification authority.

By road, what matters in winter is which passes stay open. According to the tourist office, the Julier, Maloja and Ofen passes are open all year, while the Albula and Flüela close in winter. The Vereina tunnel car-carrying train links Klosters/Selfranga with Sagliains, in the Lower Engadine, daily in 18 minutes. The same source gives distances of about 280 km and 4 h 30 min from Munich, and about 290 km and 3 h 45 min from Basel.

Engadin Airport is also a helicopter base, and there is a heliport at St Moritz-Bad. There are no official helicopter transfer times from other airports, which is why we do not give any. Both road transfers and helicopter transfers in Switzerland require a local provider: section 6 explains how that leg is handled.

4. What needs to be settled, and in what order

We do not publish booking lead times, because no official source sets them for Samedan outside WEF week and those in circulation come from commercial websites. What can be put in order is the sequence: each decision shapes the next.

• When fixing the dates: check them against the winter calendar. In 2026-27, the WEF in Davos from 18 to 22 January according to the official Davos website; the Snow Polo World Cup from 22 to 24 January 2027, according to its organiser; and the White Turf races on 7, 14 and 21 February 2027, according to its organiser. The airport itself cites the WEF, the polo tournament and White Turf among its notable uses.
• When choosing operator and aircraft: obtain written confirmation that the assigned crew holds a current Samedan familiarisation briefing and meets the recency requirements, and that the operator has validated the aircraft for the airport's elevation and runway. Ask for an itemised quote showing positioning, crew night stops and services at destination.
• When designing the schedule: set the arrival time within the daylight window with a margin, and decide before the flight which airport is the alternate and how the journey is completed from there. If the alternate is Zurich, bear in mind that it requires a slot and has a curfew.
• When settling the return: the return flight is subject to the same daylight window. Decide whether the aircraft waits at destination during the stay or returns to its base and comes back to collect you, because it changes crew planning and cost.
• The Madrid side: FBO at Barajas or Torrejon depending on the departure, and an executive chauffeur to the FBO, timed to the departure time calculated from the Samedan window.
• In the preceding weeks: if the date touches WEF week, follow the publication of the official restrictions notice. Check that the crew is working with the current version of the airport briefing and review the goods being carried against the limit of CHF 150 per person per day.
• On the day of the flight: the final decision depends on the weather at destination, activity in the military zones and the actual departure time. The fallback plan must already be decided, not left to improvisation.

5. What drives the cost, without figures

We do not give prices for this route: any figure without a specific date, aircraft and crew would be misleading. What we can explain is what moves it. For a general reference on private aviation costs from Madrid, see our analysis of private jet costs from Madrid.

• Aircraft category: number of passengers, ski luggage and cabin. It is the starting factor, not the only one.
• Performance at a high-altitude airport: Samedan's elevation and runway length determine which aircraft are suitable and at what weight they can operate. The operator may have to limit passengers, luggage or fuel, or propose a different aircraft.
• Qualified crew: if the nearest aircraft has no crew with a current Samedan briefing, the alternative may be another aircraft that has to position from further away.
• Positioning: the legs the aircraft flies without passengers to reach Madrid or to return to its base are part of the cost.
• Night stops and crew: whether the aircraft waits at destination or flies two rotations changes the cost, and the winter daylight window shapes both options.
• Dates of the major events: in WEF week, the airspace restrictions mean that diversion and an alternate must be planned from the outset, and that goes into the planning.
• Services at destination and contingency: fees, handling and de-icing according to the airport's tariffs, and the cost of any diversion, which adds slot, handling and road transfer from the alternate.

When KAIROS manages the flight, the operator's quote is passed on to you exactly as it arrives and our fee is identified separately from it. We are paid by the client, never by the operator; the model is explained in the mandate.

6. What KAIROS does for this destination, and what it does not

For a destination like this, the most useful thing we can do is state exactly where our work begins and where it ends.

• The flight: Madrid–Samedan or its alternative, through our network of brokers and operators with European coverage. Before confirming anything we require the operator holding the air operator certificate and the aircraft registration to be identified, and we put the questions specific to Samedan to the candidates: crew with a current briefing, aircraft suitability and alternate plan.
• The Madrid side: FBO at Barajas and Torrejon, and an executive chauffeur to the FBO.
• Coordination under mandate: a single point of contact, scope in writing, the quote in full view and a separate fee.

And what we do not do. There is currently no accredited provider in Switzerland in our network, so we do not offer ground operations in St Moritz: no road transfers, no helicopter and no services at destination contracted by KAIROS. If the assignment needs a local provider, that provider must first pass the accreditation standard of our operating network: credentials, insurance, mandate and terms in writing. If it does not pass, we do not work with it.

Nor do we promise access to hotels, chalets, restaurants or tables, and we do not sell or resell tickets or hospitality for any event. Access to events such as the Snow Polo World Cup or White Turf is obtained through each organiser's official channels.

Frequently asked questions about flying private to St Moritz

In St Moritz in winter, choosing the aircraft is only the beginning. What decides the trip is the time of arrival, the crew able to fly to Samedan, the week in which the date falls and what happens if the first plan is not possible. Those four answers are best obtained in writing before the flight is confirmed.