That story is just click bait. The Swiss government actually got a very good deal on that aircraft as it was a cancellation but they had to take delivery earlier than planned.
Payerne is no further from Bern than other capitals airports are from their cities. And Payerne’s runway is long enough for a full load of fuel.
What’s the hurry?
the Global 7500 awaits full certification and the installation of its self-protection system against portable air defense systems
I have no idea if the self-protection system is necessary but I’d rather be safe than sorry after losing one or multiple federal councils. And of course the military expertise (and probably secrecy) such systems require might make stationing at Payerne’s military airport a necessity in the first place, rather than Bern’s civil one.
The Pilatus PC-24 would have been a direct replacement for the outgoing Cessna Citation Jet with slightly more range and similar seating.
However the Bombardier Global 7500 has 3x the range of both and double the seating. So it looks like the gorgeous Swiss jet wouldn’t have fit the mission for a jet that could travel non stop to e.g. the USA. Nice to have one in the fleet though since its an Ambassador for the country, especially as it also has the unique ability to take off from grass or dirt runways.
That’s quite uplifting!
I wonder to what extent the potential need to safely repatriate citizens, like it arose during the pandemic, played a role in the decision for the Global 7500.
Well, best use case for a jet with 13’000 km range?
Flights between Sion and Bern or Bern and Lugano 
For once, the climate activists may be right. Also, it’s tempting to tell “they wouldn’t be on a rush if they had woke up earlier”.
Absolutely pathetic.
They’re not exactly selling the concept of Swiss railways to the masses, are they?
2.5-3 hours on the train city centre to city centre. I suspect that is faster than city centre to city centre flying and ground transport.
However if they need to be in Lugano before 9:30 flying might be the only choice.
Edited to add Locarno would be more like 4 hours on the train.
That’s a great idea: a Bundesrat train.
Enough space to take a nap, eat, office, meeting rooms, etc. If you’re already working on the train, what’s the rush to get to a destination?
Maybe the plane is more private than the train.
Recently in the UK the new NHS chief, Sir Jim Mackey told parliament in the House of Commons that he would “pick up the pace of reform.” This was at 11.53am.
At 3.23pm the same day he was asleep on a train, first-class, going home (300 miles), with a Netflix movie running on his laptop.