Wet lease · French Polynesia
The short runways of the South Pacific.
Since 2022 a Zimex Twin Otter has flown Air Tahiti's inter-island routes in the Marquesas, to strips too short for an ATR.
Read the case studyOur missions start where the missions of others end.
Scroll to take off
Zimex is a Swiss airline that flies where others don't. Our Twin Otters and ATRs fly humanitarian, special-mission, wet-lease, cargo and charter work on six continents.
Zimex Aviation
Swiss airline since 1969
1969
Founded in Zurich. Switzerland's oldest operating airline.
9 Twin Otters
Three generations, on wheels, floats or skis.
35 nationalities
Pilots and engineers who mostly work far from home.
24/7
Operations control in Glattbrugg, for every flight, every hour.
Runways optional.
Remote and humanitarian flying is where we started, and it's still most of what we do.
Our Twin Otters land on gravel, sand, grass, water and snow. They fly for UN agencies, the Red Cross, energy companies and governments in places like South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, the Sahara and Suriname. Each deployment comes with aircraft, crew, engineers, spare parts and operations support from Switzerland. You bring the mission.
Humanitarian & Remote Operations
What we do
All services- Humanitarian & Remote OperationsTwin Otters, crews and support for places without much else.
- Special MissionsSurveillance, survey and other unusual jobs, with aircraft modified in-house.
- Wet LeaseOur aircraft, our crew, your flight number.
- Express CargoATR freighters that fly while the network sleeps.
- Passenger Charter48 seats, based in Basel, going where you need.
- MaintenanceWe fix what we fly. And what you fly.
- TrainingType ratings taught by people who were flying last week.
- Aircraft & PartsTwin Otters and parts, bought, sold and kept flying.
Humanitarian · Haiti
From Lake Constance to Port-au-Prince, the northern way.
Ferried via Greenland and Canada, a Twin Otter links Port-au-Prince with the rest of Haiti for the UN Humanitarian Air Service.
Read the case study
Humanitarian · South Sudan
Four Twin Otters, one very large country.
For the ICRC we fly medical teams, patients and supplies between Juba and field strips that are often just cleared ground.
Read the case study
Ferry flight · 2020
Halfway round the world, at 150 knots.
Altenrhein to Papeete in a Twin Otter: 12 legs, 82 flight hours, 19 days, and a Covid test at every border.
Read the case studyTwin Otter Classic 300-G
New Twin Otter. Same old habit of going first.
In 2010 we were launch customer for the DHC-6-400 Twin Otter. In June 2026 we became the first EASA operator of the Twin Otter Classic 300-G. It has a Garmin G1000 NXi flight deck and weighs 400–500 lb less than the aircraft it replaces, and it can be fitted with wheels, floats or skis. It went from factory acceptance in Calgary to its first mission without a demonstration tour.
- Launch customer for the DHC-6-400
- 2010
- First EASA operator of the Classic 300-G
- June 2026
- Garmin flight deck
- G1000 NXi
- Lighter than the aircraft it replaces
- 400–500 lb
Approvals
Everything under one roof. Including the roof.
Zimex holds its own air operator certificate, continuing airworthiness organisation, Part-145 maintenance approval and approved training organisation. When something needs fixing, planning, approving or teaching, the people who do it work down the corridor, or in our own hangar at Altenrhein.
| What we do | Approval | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Fly | AOC | CH.AOC.1025 |
| Keep airworthy | CAMO | CH.CAMO.1025 |
| Maintain | Part-145 | CH.145.0230 |
| Train | ATO | CH.ATO.0165 |
Where we fly
Six continents. Very few of them paved.
From Glattbrugg and Altenrhein to the Sahel, the Baltic, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. The places we fly now, and some we flew before.
- Glattbrugg, Zurich: Head office and 24/7 operations control
- Altenrhein: Maintenance base and hangar
- Basel: ATR 42 passenger charter base
- Juba, South Sudan: Twin Otters for the ICRC
- Goma, DR Congo: Humanitarian air service
- Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: Humanitarian air service
- Port-au-Prince, Haiti: UN Humanitarian Air Service
- Paramaribo, Suriname: Remote operations
- Hassi Messaoud, Algeria: Oil-field support in the Sahara
- Dammam, Saudi Arabia: Energy-sector flying
- Doha, Qatar: Energy-sector flying
- Roskilde, Denmark: Maritime surveillance for the Danish Home Guard
- Aalborg, Denmark: Maritime surveillance for the Danish Home Guard
- Copenhagen, Denmark: Harbour-to-harbour floatplanes to Aarhus
- Aarhus, Denmark: Harbour-to-harbour floatplanes to Copenhagen
- Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands: Inter-island flights for Air Tahiti
- Ua Pou, Marquesas Islands: Inter-island flights for Air Tahiti
- Papeete, Tahiti: Wet lease in French Polynesia
- Wallis and Futuna: Wet lease in the South Pacific
- Maastricht: ATR 72 express cargo
- Birmingham: ATR 72 express cargo
- Dublin: ATR 72 express cargo
Careers
Not for everyone.
Some airlines hire pilots to fly aircraft. We hire pilots to solve problems, and the aircraft is how they do it. Rotations run from Denmark to Central Africa to a container in the desert. If that sounds like hard work, it is. If it sounds like fun, keep reading.
