The Schänis airfield (ICAO code LSZX) is a gliding airfield in Switzerland. It is located in the area of the St. Gallen municipality of Schänis in the Linth Plain.
Within Switzerland, the Schänis airfield is the largest location for gliding; over 150 active pilots are organized in various gliding groups. Among other things, Schänis offers the advantage of being in the immediate vicinity of the Alps, not being affected by the control zone of Zurich Airport, which is comparatively close by and having daily flight operations. In 2007 and 2009, the Swiss Gliding Championships took place in Schänis. In addition, Schänis is a regular venue for regional championships.
Since the summer of 2008, the Swiss Air Force has occasionally used the airspace north-east of Schänis for its Speer training area for Pilatus PC-21 flights. The originally planned minimum airspace altitude of 8,000 feet was raised to 10,000 feet (around 3,050 meters) above sea level after protests from glider pilots.
Various gliding groups are based at the Schänis airfield, in particular the large Lägern gliding group (SG Läger), which was founded in 1935 as the Dübendorf gliding group in Dällikon in Zurich at the foot of the Lägern, but has been based in Schänis since 1965 due to the growing air traffic at Zurich Airport. The Schänis Vintage Car Club (OCS) with vintage gliders and the Swiss Aerobatic Gliding Association (SAGA) are also based in Schänis.
