Source: https://iclg.com/practice-areas/aviation-laws-and-regulations/switzerland
Timestamp: 2018-01-17 18:10:43
Document Index: 701182797

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 26', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 22', 'Art. 23', 'Art. 53', 'Art. 53', 'Art. 23', 'Art. 23', 'Art. 23', 'Art. 8', 'Art. 101']

■ The Federal Civil Aviation Act (FCAA)
■ The Federal Act on the Aircraft Records Register
■ The Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).
■ The Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on Air Transport (“EU-CH Agreement”), which entered into force on 1 June 2002.
Federal legislative texts are freely available in German, French, and Italian on www.admin.ch(Federal law/Classified compilation).
1. Hold an AOC from the competent national Civil Aviation Authority (Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008).
2. File with FOCA the Application Form for an Operating Licence (Form 49.05; at least 30 days prior to the intended launch date of commercial operation and before the expiry date of the existing operation licence, respectively), including appendices:
a) certificate on the Swiss or the European character of the company (Form 54.045 including appendices);
b) leasing or management agreements for the respective aircraft;
c) aircraft list (registration marks, type of aircraft, seating capacity);
d) evidence of own flight crews;
e) tenancy agreement for the office of the operation department (Post Holder Flight Operations);
f) business plan for two operational years;
g) certified balance sheet, income statement, auditor’s report; and
h) opening balance sheet and financial plan (budget).
3. File with FOCA certain corporate documents (articles of association, extract from the commercial register, certified copy of the shareholders’ register, organisational chart with information on Board and management).
4. File with FOCA an extract from the debt collection and bankruptcy register (Betreibungsregisterauszug) regarding the CEO, the CFO, and the accountable manager.
1. liability insurance for passengers, baggage, and cargo;
2. security programme;
3. list of aircraft used on routes from and to Switzerland (Form 49.06; if required by FOCA);
4. schedule (Form 49.01);
5. contact information (e.g., handling agent in Switzerland);
6. contact person within the airline concerning Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 issues, i.e., compensation and assistance to passengers (Form 49.03; for FOCA use only);
7. tariffs for the scheduled flights (Form 49.02);
8. declaration of reciprocity for services in the fifth or seventh freedom to destinations outside the EU/EFTA issued by the competent national Civil Aviation Authority; and
9. request for a Route Licence (Form 49.04).
Switzerland has adopted Regulation (EC) No 216/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 February 2008 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency. It is the main source of Swiss aviation safety legislation. EASA Rules on Air Operations (OPS) and Implementing Rules (IR) will be applicable in Switzerland. Furthermore, Switzerland has implemented safety management systems as provided for in ICAO Annexes 6, 11 and 14.
■ Art. 26 and Annex 13 of the Chicago Convention;
■ Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the investigation and prevention of accidents and incidents in civil aviation;
■ Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 April 2014 on the reporting, analysis and follow-up of occurrences in civil aviation;
■ Art. 22 et seq. of the Federal Civil Aviation Act; and
■ Ordinance on Aviation Accidents and Severe Incidents.
On 16 August 2017, the Swiss Federal Council approved the signing of an agreement aimed at linking the Swiss and European aviation emission trading scheme (ETS) systems. Once the agreement is signed, and as emissions generated by aviation will be included under the joint ETS system, the linkage will offer Swiss aviation companies who operate flights from Switzerland to the EEA and/or within Switzerland the possibility to trade with the corresponding emissions throughout the European ETS system.
On 23 March 2017, Switzerland and France signed an intergovernmental agreement addressing various taxation issues at the Basel-Mulhouse Euro-Airport (EAP). The main points of the agreement are that Swiss VAT shall be levied in the Swiss area of the EAP, France and Switzerland will split the receipts from corporation tax paid by EAP, and companies in the Swiss area will pay French income tax and Swiss capital tax but will not be liable for the main local ancillary taxes levied in France, to which Swiss tax is considered equivalent. Moreover, the French Directorate General for Civil Aviation will be compensated for services provided in the Swiss area of EAP.
In a decision of 31 January 2017, the Swiss Federal Court of Administration (FCA) upheld a decree of the Swiss Secretary of Migration (SEM) imposing a fine of CHF 152,000 on Qatar Airways for submitting no or insufficient passenger information regarding its flights departing from Doha into Switzerland. The measure had been invoked by the SEM in 2011 in the framework of security checks, according to which carriers operating flights departing from Doha, São Paulo, Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Shanghai, Dubai, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Pristina, Istanbul, Moscow, Casablanca, and Marrakesh needed to transfer, immediately after departure, their passenger lists plus further information.
On 21 December 2016, the ECJ ruled that the “stop the clock” decision does not infringe the EU principle of equal treatment. The “stop the clock” decision of the European Commission had suspended the requirements to surrender emissions allowances imposed by its aviation emission trading scheme (ETS) regarding flights between Member States of the European Economic Area (EEA) and third countries. As the flights originating from or reaching Switzerland were excluded from the temporary moratorium, the Swiss were at a disadvantage vis-à-vis their European competitors and major third country competitors from, e.g., the US, India, China, and Russia, leading to Swiss International Air Lines AG filing an application before the High Court of England and Wales, as England was Swiss airlines’ administering member according to the ETS. The High Court ruled that the European Law did not impose an obligation on the European Union to treat all third countries equally and thus dismissed the application.
In a decision of 2 February 2016, the Bulach District Court ruled that the Sturgeon, Nelson, and TUI decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), establishing, and thereafter upholding, a standardised financial compensation for flights delayed by at least three hours, did not apply in Switzerland. The court ruled that, although that Switzerland has adopted the EU Air Passenger Rights Regulation (261/2004) by virtue of the bilateral 1999 EU-Switzerland Air Transport Agreement, it was doubtful whether Swiss courts must also follow ECJ case law subsequently rendered based the regulation, especially if such case law, as in the case of Sturgeon, was a legislative rather than a judicial decision. In the case at hand, the Bulach District Court decided that the abovementioned decisions were not precedents it had to follow.
Pursuant to Art. 22 para. 1 of the Federal Act on the Aircraft Records Register, engines that are specifically designated as such and registered jointly with an aircraft in the Aircraft Record are deemed to be part of such aircraft, regardless of whether they are installed ‘on-wing’ or not. Furthermore, there is the possibility of specifically excluding an engine from a registration, which will render its fate independent from that of the aircraft. By consequence, if an engine is registered along with an aircraft in the Aircraft Record, a mortgage on the aircraft will also affect the engine. If this is not desired, the engine must be specifically excluded when registering the aircraft in the Aircraft Record.
The key question with respect to VAT handling of aircraft transactions in Switzerland (sale/purchase/lease) is whether the aircraft in question is imported into Switzerland and, if so, whether an exemption based on Art. 23 para. 2 no. 8 and Art. 53 para. 1(e) of the Federal Law on Value Added Tax (VATL) applies. If a Swiss registered aircraft is imported into Switzerland by a Swiss-domiciled international air-carrier who professionally operates transportation or chartered air traffic, and whose turnover from international flights exceeds that of domestic air traffic, the sale, purchase, or lease as well as a list of other services provided to such air-carrier may be exempt from VAT pursuant to Art. 53 para. 1(e) in connection with Art. 23 para. 2 no. 8 VATL. The Federal Tax Administration maintains a list of carriers domiciled in Switzerland who qualify for such exemptions. Foreign air-carriers who are able to demonstrate that they comply with the requirements of Art. 23 para. 2 no. 8 VATL may also, under certain circumstances, apply for VAT exemptions on certain services. If an aircraft is imported by any other person/company who is not exempted, VAT is applied to any sale, purchase, or lease transaction involving the aircraft. The same applies for any aircraft imported into Switzerland and sold, purchased, or leased to a party (other than a commercial carrier exempted from VAT pursuant to Art. 23 para. 2 no. 8 VATL), regardless of whether the parties involved in the transaction are foreign parties and the aircraft is situated outside of Switzerland. Aircraft that are not imported into Switzerland (e.g., when staying under custom supervision in connection with maintenance and repair) are generally not subject to Swiss VAT on imports. Similar rules apply, due to various multilateral agreements (e.g., GATT or Free Trade Agreement with EU and EFTA) to customs duty; accordingly, the import of aircraft or of spare parts is exempted from customs duty if such an agreement is applicable.
1. governmental aircraft (which are designated or actually used by public authorities on an exclusive basis);
2. aircraft actually in service on scheduled flights of a public carrier (and its reserve aircraft); and
3. any other passenger or cargo aircraft ready to depart in such transportation, unless the debt for which the seizure is requested was incurred for, or has become due in the course of, that specific leg.
Enforcement of mortgages is carried out by the competent Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Office (Betreibungsamt). The same applies to the enforcement of financial claims if the creditor is in possession of an enforceable title. If he does not hold such title, he may still initiate the enforcement procedure; however, in such cases the debtor may raise objection against the enforcement, and the creditor will then have to obtain a court order before being able to proceed with the enforcement procedure.
All agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings, and concerted practices, including joint-ventures, which may affect trade between Switzerland and the EC and which are aimed at, or result in, the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition within the territory covered by the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on Air Transport (EU-CH Agreement), are prohibited. Contravening decisions or agreements are null and void. Exemptions are possible under the conditions foreseen by the EU-CH Agreement.
This wording, as provided for in Art. 8 of the EU-CH Agreement, corresponds to the applicable EU competition law (Art. 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)). Switzerland has therefore, in fact, adopted the EU competition law.
According to the EU-CH Agreement, the European Union institutions and not the Swiss competition authorities are competent to control concentration between undertakings (the “one-stop-shop principle”). The Swiss authorities only remain competent if the thresholds, as defined in the EC Merger Regulation, are not reached (i.e., generally, a combined aggregate worldwide turnover of EUR 5bn and an aggregate EU-wide turnover of each of at least two of the undertakings concerned of more than EUR 250m).
As regards all fields of economy in trade in Europe and worldwide, the implications of an upcoming Brexit, if and when it shall occur, remain to be seen, also with respect to civil aviation in Switzerland.
Moreover, Switzerland is, and remains, at the forefront of the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), also known as (civil) drones, and as with many other fields, regulations in this field follows the highly paced and dynamic technological developments of this topic. Regulations in this domain are likely to follow the developments in the European Union, where the European Aviation Safety Agency is in the course of creating a drone regulation framework for all EASA Member States. A final draft of such regulation framework is expected to be submitted to the European Commission at the end of 2017.
In August 2017, the Sectoral Aviation Infrastructure Plan (SAIP), which constitutes the government’s planning and coordination instrument for civil aviation, setting out the purpose, required perimeter, main aspects of use, equipment, and general operating conditions for every aerodrome, was amended. The amendments address, amongst other things, the optimisation of landing and take-off routes at Zurich Airport and regulations on new take-off routes in case of windy or foggy weather conditions (so-called “south approach route”).