Flight compensation in Switzerland

The legal basis — not an EU member state

Switzerland is outside the EU and the EEA. The Agreement between the European Community and Switzerland on Air Transport (signed 1999, in force 2002) incorporates EU aviation law into Swiss law by listing it in an annex; Regulation 261/2004 was added with effect from 1 December 2006. For the purposes of the Regulation, Switzerland is treated like a member state and Swiss-licensed airlines like EU airlines. The amounts, the notice periods and the extraordinary-circumstances test are therefore the same as in the EU: €250 / €400 / €600, usually paid in Swiss francs at the day’s rate. The Swiss rules page explains the legal mechanism in detail; this page is the practical guide for flights from and to Switzerland.

Departures, arrivals and who is covered

• Departing Switzerland (Zurich, Geneva, Bern and the regional airports): every airline is covered — SWISS, easyJet Switzerland, Edelweiss, Lufthansa, British Airways, Emirates alike — and FOCA is the competent body.
• Arriving in Switzerland from outside Europe: only Swiss- or EU/EEA-licensed airlines. SWISS from New York, Singapore or Dubai, yes; United, Emirates, Singapore Airlines or Qatar Airways into Zurich, no — their legs into Switzerland are governed by the Montreal Convention and their own conditions.
• Between Switzerland and the EU: covered in both directions — as a Swiss departure one way and an EU departure the other — with the enforcement body of the departure country.
• Between Switzerland and the UK: UK261 on any airline out of London, Manchester or Edinburgh; the Swiss application of the Regulation on any airline out of Zurich or Geneva. SWISS is neither a UK nor an EU carrier, so a SWISS flight into the UK from outside Europe is not covered by UK261 — but a SWISS flight from Zurich to London is covered because it departs Switzerland.
• EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse is on French territory, Swiss sector included, so Horvera assesses departures from it as departures from France (EU261, with the DGAC as enforcement body) — a German court reached the same conclusion for a flight arriving there, rejecting the airline’s argument that the “BSL” code made it Swiss. The amounts are identical; FOCA’s own competence statement covers airports situated in Switzerland.

Enforcement: FOCA / BAZL / OFAC

The Federal Office of Civil Aviation is the enforcement body for flights departing a Swiss airport and for flights from a third country whose first landing is in Switzerland on a Swiss or EU airline. Complain to the airline first, in writing: FOCA takes the case when the airline has not answered within six weeks or the answer is unsatisfactory. The report is an online form that you print, sign and send by post or e-mail with a copy of your ID, the booking and the correspondence with the airline — one form per person and per flight. FOCA asks the airline for its position and decides whether to open administrative penal proceedings; the passenger is not a party to them and pays nothing. FOCA says plainly that it has no authority to handle demands for compensation and cannot enforce payment — a fine can motivate the airline to pay, and otherwise the civil courts remain. Two practical limits: FOCA normally does not open a procedure when the flight is more than a year old, and it does not deal with baggage or consequential costs.

No ADR scheme: the courts and the two-year limit

Unlike Germany, Spain, the Netherlands or the UK, Switzerland has no approved ADR scheme of its own for air passenger claims. Two foreign schemes reach some Swiss flights: SWISS and Edelweiss are members of Germany’s Schlichtungsstelle Reise & Verkehr, whose statutory scope is consumer claims up to €5,000 where a German court would have jurisdiction — in practice SWISS flights to or from Germany; and the UK scheme AviationADR accepts easyJet complaints for flights with a UK or Swiss airport, which covers easyJet Switzerland’s Geneva and Basel departures. For everything else the courts are the route. A disputed claim goes to the civil courts: the conciliation authority (Friedensrichter / juge de paix) first, then the simplified procedure for claims up to CHF 30,000, without a lawyer. The deadline is not settled by statute for Regulation claims: the Basel-Stadt Appeals Court (BEZ.2016.3, 29 June 2016) applied the two-year forfeiture period of Article 14 of the Air Transport Ordinance (LTrV) to the fixed compensation, while some commentary argues for the ten-year general period of Article 127 of the Code of Obligations. Treat two years from the flight as the deadline — and remember FOCA’s one-year practice for its own procedure.

The delay nuance

Cancellation and denied-boarding compensation are written into the Regulation itself and apply in Switzerland exactly as in the EU. The three-hour rule for long delays comes from the Court of Justice’s Sturgeon and Nelson judgments, which post-date the Agreement’s signature: under Article 1(2) of the Agreement, FOCA explains, later rulings are communicated to Switzerland and “can provide guidance to the Swiss federal authorities and courts”, but “are not automatically binding”. In practice FOCA treats long delays as compensable and SWISS and the other airlines pay on the EU model; if an airline refuses and the claim is litigated, the outcome can depend on the court — a Bülach district court in 2016 declined to follow Sturgeon, albeit in a case dismissed on formal grounds. That is why Horvera reports delay claims from Switzerland as “potentially eligible” and cancellation and denied-boarding claims with normal confidence.

Carrier-dependent cases in Switzerland

• SWISS, Edelweiss and Helvetic Airways are Swiss carriers: covered on every departure and on their inbound flights from outside Europe. The SWISS compensation page has the claim channel and the airline’s usual defences at Zurich (fog, Skyguide restrictions, the night curfew).
• easyJet Switzerland operates most easyJet flights from Geneva and Basel under a Swiss licence — covered on departure like any airline, and covered inbound from outside Europe as a Swiss carrier.
• Lufthansa, Austrian, KLM, Air France, British Airways flying from Zurich or Geneva are covered on departure; their inbound flights are EU/UK departures under their own regimes.
• Third-country carriers (Emirates, Qatar Airways, United, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines): covered on departure from Switzerland only.

Practical workflow for a Swiss departure

1. Claim in writing from the operating airline, referring to Regulation 261/2004 as applicable under the EU–Swiss Air Transport Agreement; state the amount in euros and accept payment in francs.
2. After a refusal or six weeks of silence, file the signed report with FOCA, with your ID, the booking and the correspondence — within a year of the flight, or FOCA will normally not open a procedure.
3. Before the two-year mark, bring the claim to the conciliation authority and, if needed, the civil court in the simplified procedure. The Zurich and Geneva airport pages cover the airport-specific causes airlines cite.