Davos 2027. A mountain town of security zones, where a car needs its own pass.

Davos in Forum week is not a town with some road closures. Parts of it are formally designated security zones, with checkpoints on the approaches and controlled entry around the Congress Centre, the principal hotels used by the meeting, the ice rink and the heliport by the Lago. Within those zones, both people and vehicles are controlled: badges are issued and colour coded for the access they carry, and vehicles need their own pass to enter, issued through the cantonal police via the hotel or the Forum's own channels rather than by anyone else.

There is also an environmental condition. Vehicles working in the Forum area must be registered for the meeting's environmental scheme and display the sticker issued for it, so a car that is otherwise perfectly suitable cannot simply be substituted at the last minute. Badges and vehicle passes are collected in person in Davos Platz, with a photograph taken on site.

So the planning question is not which car or which route, it is which vehicle is accredited for which zone, and who in your organisation holds that accreditation. We work to the passes the Forum, the hotels and the cantonal police issue to you or to the operator, we plan around them, and we are honest about where a vehicle can and cannot go. Odyssey holds no accreditation and no relationship with the Forum, and we will never suggest otherwise.

Zurich is the main gateway and the one that changes most in Forum week. The published pattern in recent years has been prior permission required for parking for non scheduled and non commercial flights staying more than a couple of hours, a restriction on larger wingspan aircraft landing before the early afternoon unless parking approval is already held, a bar on using Zurich as an alternate during the core days, and the airport's normal operating hours with no extensions. Parking requests are made extremely early: people who do this every year are asking a year in advance. See Zurich.

Samedan, in the Engadin, is the closest airport to Davos in a straight line and a serious mountain aerodrome: visual flight rules only, a mandatory pilot qualification for the field, daylight operating hours, prior permission required, and restricted airspace around Davos itself during the meeting. The road onward is about an hour and a quarter over a pass in winter, which is beautiful and not always quick. See Samedan.

St Gallen Altenrhein, on Lake Constance, has a short runway that limits the types it can take and operating hours that include a midday break and shorter weekend windows, so check them against your arrival time. Friedrichshafen, across the lake in Germany, runs long daily hours, generally without slots or prior permission, though a longer stay may mean repositioning. Dübendorf, near Zurich, has in recent years opened for Forum traffic on a prior permission basis, with a steep approach that not every crew is approved for.

A helicopter from Zurich reaches Davos in around half an hour and removes the mountain road entirely, which is why the Forum week sees so much rotary traffic. It is genuinely useful and it is not a guarantee: mountain weather closes the option at short notice, airspace around Davos is restricted during the meeting, landing sites are limited and controlled, and passengers arriving internationally must clear customs and immigration before they board. A sensible plan has the helicopter as the intention and a road transfer already standing by as the alternative, with the same person responsible for both.

We arrange helicopters through operators we know. See helicopter charter and private jet charter.