Residents of Switzerland have been disadvantaged when it comes to compensation for delayed flights. However, this will change if the new package of agreements between Bern and Brussels is approved.
When flights are cancelled, European law, which also applies to Switzerland, sets conditions for passenger compensation:
- 250 euros for flights with a distance of up to 1,500 kilometres
- 400 euros for flights with a distance of between 1,500 and 3,500 kilometres
- 600 euros for flights with a distance of more than 3,500 kilometres
READ ALSO: What compensation are you entitled to in Switzerland if your flight is cancelled?
However, the same rights don’t apply if the flight was delayed, rather than cancelled altogether.
In this respect, while their EU counterparts are entitled to compensation, Swiss passengers are not.
Why not?
In 2016, the Bülach (Zurich) district court ruled that under Switzerland’s law, passengers departing from the country are not entitled to financial compensation for delayed flights.
This means that for nearly a decade, Swiss and EU travellers had been entitled to the same rights if their flights were cancelled, but not if they were delayed.
For example, if a flight to the United States is delayed by more than five hours, an EU passenger receives €600 in compensation, while a Swiss passenger gets nothing.
Airlines like SWISS, Edelweiss, and Helvetic, on the other hand, benefit from this rule.
According to Simon Sommer, passenger rights expert at the company, Cancelled, “we assume that SWISS saves several million francs a year as a result.”
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This practice is, however, set to change
If the package concluded between Bern and Brussels in December 2024 is approved, Swiss passengers would be treated – in terms of delay compensation – the same as their as EU counterparts: they would no longer be excluded from claiming compensation for delayed flights.
In such a case, Sommer said, Swiss courts would have to adhere “fully and completely” to the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice, which means that the Bülach ruling concerning no compensation for delays de would be nullified.
This development depends, however, on whether the parliament and, more than likely, Swiss voters as well, will accept the new bilateral agreements, which could be brought to the ballot box sometime in 2027.
