The European Parliament voted for a major tightening of air passenger rights – including in Switzerland. Here’s what you can look forward to.
Currently, travellers to and from Swiss airports have their rights protected under the EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation (EC) 261/2004, which applies via a bilateral agreement between Bern and Brussels.
For cancellations, denied boarding, or delays of more than three hours, passengers are entitled to between €250-€600 (320 to 554 francs) – depending on distance – in addition to free meals, drinks, and hotel stays.
This is what the law states, but many passengers have repeatedly complained that in practice this ordinance is not always rigorously applied – if at all – or else it takes a very long administrative procedure to get any refunds at all.
From 2027, however, Switzerland will have to adopt the new EU rules as well.
New rules will extend to all of Switzerland’s airlines, such as SWISS, Edelweiss, Helvetic, and Chair.
What will change for travellers in Switzerland?
Price transparency
The ticket price displayed during the booking process must include one piece of hand luggage – information that is often strategically ‘hidden’ in small print.
Information obligation
Airlines must inform passengers of their claims within four days of filing and respond within 30 days.
Rejections must be justified.
Rebooking
In the event of cancellations, an alternative flight must be offered within three hours.
After that, passengers may book a flight themselves and claim a refund up to 400 percent of the ticket price.
Ban on penalising no-shows
Passengers who do not use their outbound flight should still be able to take the return flight without additional costs.
In the future, travellers will be able to circumvent the system practiced by SWISS airline: instead of an expensive one-way ticket, passengers will be able to book a better-priced, round-trip fare and forfeit the first leg without penalties.
Families
No seat supplements will be imposed if families or accompanying persons want to sit together.
These newly-acquired rights, by the way, will apply on any European airline.
READ MORE: What you should know about travel in Switzerland this summer
