Ordinance on Airport Charges
English is not an official language of the Swiss Confederation. This translation is provided for information purposes only and has no legal force.
Section 1 General Provisions
Art. 10 Charge periods
1 The charge regulations for Zurich and Geneva Airports must specify when the airport operator will next initiate proceedings for adjusting flight operations charges. 2 This target date may be at most four years after the charge regulations come into force.
Art. 11 Adjustment before the planned target date at Geneva Airport
1 The operator of Geneva Airport may only initiate proceedings for changing the flight operations charges before the prescribed target date if: a. extraordinary circumstances arise which have an effect on the cost of airport operation; b. there are changes to the airport's regulatory environment which were not foreseeable and which have a substantial effect on costs. 2 FOCA may order adjustment proceedings to be held or directly prescribe changes in the charges at any time if they do not comply with the requirements of law.
Art. 11 — Amended by No I of the O of 13 Nov. 2024, in force since 1 Jan. 2025 (AS 2024 709). Para. 1 let. b — Amended by No I of the O of 13 Nov. 2024, in force since 1 Jan. 2025 (AS 2024 709).
Art. 11a Adjustment before the planned target date at Zurich Airport
1 The operator of Zurich Airport and airport users who together represent a share of at least 20 per cent of flight operations charges at the time of their application may ask the FOCA to initiate adjustment proceedings early in the event of exceptional circumstances that have a significant impact on: a. forecasts based on the charge calculation; and b. the surplus or shortfall of airport charges expected at the end of the charge period. 2 The FOCA shall make a decision on the application within 60 days of its submission. 3 If the application is approved, the FOCA also has the option of shortening the preliminary proceedings in accordance with Article 23. It will decide upon this in its ruling.
Art. 11a — Inserted by No I of the O of 13 Nov. 2024, in force since 1 Jan. 2025 (AS 2024 709).
Art. 12 Capacity surcharges
1 Capacity surcharges may be levied on flights handled during times of proven capacity shortages. Airlines with considerable transfer passenger traffic may not be disadvantaged in the general market environment by these surcharges. 2 The amount of the surcharge is calculated according to the additional costs of services and facilities necessary to satisfy demand during peak capacity utilisation.
Art. 13 Differentiated charges
Flight operations charges may be differentiated to correspond to the scope and quality of the facilities and services offered by the airport operator, if these costs differ significantly. In this case, the following applies: a. Criteria defined in Article 10 of Directive 2009/12/EC must be observed. b. There may be no cross-financing between individual facilities and services.
Art. 14 Pre-financing
1 Projected expenditures in the environmental sector and, given the necessary approvals from the authorities, investments in facilities in the airport sector relevant to flight operations may be pre-financed through flight operations charges. 2 This pre-financing must be limited in time. 3 Charge income from pre-financing and interest earned on these funds must be allocated to a special account in the airport operator's financial accounts. This account may only be debited for expenditures for the investment projects concerned. 4 The airport operator shall provide information on the income and expenditures of its special accounts in the notes to its annual financial statements.
Art. 15 Inflation-related cost increases
1 The airport operator must provide proof of any inflation-related cost increases added to the basis for calculating airport charges and fees. 2 This proof must be provided if possible on the basis of agreements, especially with suppliers and employees. Otherwise, the inflation forecasts of the Swiss National Bank shall be considered authoritative. 3 A reasonable share of any inflation-related cost increases must be deducted to compensate for cost savings based on increases in productivity.
Art. 16 Depreciation
1 Depreciation is based on the historic procurement or manufacturing costs of non-current assets. 2 They are calculated per component of non-current assets based on their useful life.
Art. 17 Reasonable capital interest
Reasonable interest on the capital invested in the airport is calculated according to Annex 1.
Art. 18 Procedure for surpluses or shortfalls of airport charges at Zurich Airport
1 If a surplus or shortfall is generated at Zurich Airport during a charge period, this surplus or shortfall shall be taken into account when setting charges for the subsequent charge period, subject to paragraph 2. 2 Where there is good cause, it may be agreed in the context of joint charge setting (as described in Section 3 of this chapter) that a surplus or shortfall during the ongoing charge period shall initially be partially or fully disregarded when setting charges for the subsequent charge period and shall instead be offset at a later time.
Art. 18 — Amended by No I of the O of 13 Nov. 2024, in force since 1 Jan. 2025 (AS 2024 709).
Art. 19 Accounting policies
1 In its cost accounting the airport operator must list the following segments separately: a. air traffic; b. air safety; c. PRM; d. usage fees; e. access fees; f. parking for road vehicles; g. public land transport; h. the sector not relevant to flight operations on the airside of the airport; i. the sector not relevant to flight operations on the landside of the airport. 2 Income generated in the segments listed in paragraph 1 must all be shown individually and transparently, including income from transfer payments from road vehicle parking and the airside sector not relevant to flight operations (Art. 34) and income from intersegmental invoicing. 3 Details of income from airport charges shall be subdivided into the individual categories of charges set out in Article 1 paragraphs 2 and 3. Passenger-related charges must be further divided into transfer passengers and local passengers. 4 The following costs must be shown separately for the segments set out in paragraph 1, and significa
Art. 19 — Amended by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067). Para. 7 — SR 221.302
Section 2 Procedure
Art. 20 Principles
1 The following rules govern the procedure for setting flight operations charges at the Geneva and Zurich Airports: a. The airport operator shall hold negotiations with airport users about the flight operations charges. If agreement is reached, the airport operator sets the charges based on this result (Section 3). b. If no agreement is reached or if the result of the negotiations is rejected by the FOCA (Art. 26 para. 5), the airport operator may present the FOCA with a charge proposal for approval, calculating the charges on the basis of a comprehensive cost calculation in line with Section 4. 2 The airport operator may repeat steps in the procedure. 3 If the airport operator is obliged to adjust airport charges in accordance with this Ordinance or other binding agreements, it may not terminate the procedure. The airport operator may not repeat steps in the proceedings, with the exception of the comprehensive cost calculation in the event that the charge proposal is rejected by the F
Art. 20 — Inserted by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067). Para. 1 let. b — Amended by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
Art. 20a Information on the procedure
1 The airport operator shall give the parties to the negotiations envisaged in Article 22 paragraph 1 and the FOCA six months’ advance notice of the start of negotiations. 2 The airport operator shall give notice of the negotiations 30 days before their start in the Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC).
Art. 20a — Inserted by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067). Para. 2 — The AIC may be obtained for a fee from: Skyguide, P.O. Box 23, 8602 Wangen bei Dübendorf, Switzerland; www.skyguide.ch. It may be viewed free of charge at the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), Mühlestrasse 2, 3063 Ittigen, Switzerland. Para. 2 — Amended by No I of the O of 13 Nov. 2024, in force since 1 Jan. 2025 (AS 2024 709).
Art. 20b Participation of other airport users in the procedure
Airport users and their associations that are not directly admitted to the negotiations must apply to airport operator and to FOCA within 30 days in order to participate in the procedure in accordance with Article 26 or Article 28a.
Art. 20b — Inserted by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
Section 3 Joint Setting of Charges
Art. 21 Principle
Flight operating charges which are set on the basis of negotiations (Art. 20 para. 1 let. a) must be within the scope of legal requirements; in particular, they may not produce income which exceed the costs shown for the airport sector relevant to flight operations (Art. 39 para. 5 CAA).
Art. 22 Parties to the negotiations
1 The airport operator shall invite the following airport users to the negotiations: a. the two largest airlines (in terms of passenger volume at the affected airport) which are independent of each other; b. representative(s) of the commercial airlines operating in Switzerland; c. representative(s) of the business aviation airlines operating in Switzerland; d. representative(s) of light aviation and air sport in Switzerland; e. representative(s) of the freight forwarders in Switzerland. 2 The FOCA shall take part in the negotiations as an observer.
Art. 23 Preliminary proceedings
1 No later than three months before start of negotiations, the airport operator shall give notice of the dates for the negotiations. 2 No earlier than five months and no later than three months before the start of negotiations, the airport operator shall request the parties to the negotiations envisaged in Article 22 paragraph 1 to provide the following information: a. information on the projected development of their flight operations over the next three years, making a distinction between local and transfer traffic; b. the projected composition and envisaged use of their fleets; c. any planned expansions of their activity at the affected airport; d. their operational and infrastructural requirements at the airport concerned. 3 The airport users shall provide the data in accordance with paragraph 2 within 30 days. If the airport users fail to provide the information, the airport operator shall use its own prognoses. 4 No later than one month before the agreed start of negotiations, th
Art. 23 — Amended by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
Art. 24 Organisation of negotiations
1 The airport operator shall organise the negotiations. 2 The operator may conduct separate negotiations with the airlines as defined in Article 22 paragraph 1 letters a and b and with individual other users or with all of the other users together. 3 A time frame of at least three months must be planned for the procedure.
Art. 25 Conclusion of agreement or failure of the negotiations
1 The airport operator shall conclude an agreement with the airport users taking part in the negotiations. If negotiations with individual groups of users were conducted separately, separate agreements shall be concluded with each of these groups. 2 The agreements concluded by the parties to the negotiation must contain provisions governing: a. the charge system; b. the amount of the charges; c. the length of the charge period; d. the implementation of Article 18 paragraph 2 at Zurich Airport. 3 If no agreements have been concluded by the end of the fourth month after the start of negotiations, the negotiations are regarded as having failed. The FOCA may extend this deadline once by two months upon receiving a joint application to do so from all parties to the negotiations.
Para. 2 let. d — Inserted by No I of the O of 13 Nov. 2024, in force since 1 Jan. 2025 (AS 2024 709).
Art. 26 Review, adjustment and approval of the agreements
1 The airport operator shall inform the airport users who have applied in accordance with Article 20b of the results of negotiations. As a minimum, the operator shall provide information about the charge system, the amount of the charges and the most important principles applied in the calculation. 2 Within three weeks of receiving this information, an application to the airport operator to change the results of the negotiations may be made by: a. airport users who have applied in accordance with Article 20b; b. the airport users concerned and their associations who were indirectly admitted to the negotiations through an association, but who have rejected the result of the negotiations; 3 The parties to the negotiations shall consider whether they wish to make changes to the agreement on the basis of any applications thus received. 4 The airport operator shall inform airport users who have applied in accordance with Article 20b within one month of the expiry of the application deadline
Art. 26 — Amended by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
Art. 27 Issue of the charge regulations
The airport operator shall issue the charge regulations in accordance with the agreements. The regulation shall come into effect no earlier than 90 days after the date on which all the procedural steps in accordance with this Ordinance have been definitively concluded.
Art. 27 — Amended by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
Section 4 Approval of Charges on the basis of a Co
Art. 28 Charge proposal
1 If the airport operator provides the FOCA with a charge proposal based on a comprehensive cost calculation (Art. 20 para. 1 let. b), a detailed basis for the calculation must be attached. 2 The operator must submit further documentation to the FOCA if this is necessary in order to evaluate the amount of the charges.
Para. 1 — Amended by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
Art. 28a Granting a hearing
1 In addition to the charge proposal in accordance with Article 28, the airport operator must submit to FOCA a version of the charge proposal in which business secrets are redacted. The FOCA must be given an explanation as to why these parts have been redacted. 2 The FOCA shall within 20 days send the version of the charge proposal with the business secrets redacted to the parties to the negotiations in accordance with Article 22 paragraph 1 and to the airport users that have applied in accordance with Article 20b so that they may express their opinions.
Art. 28a — Inserted by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
Art. 29 Calculation rules
1 The flight operations charges are calculated separately for the segments air traffic, air safety and PRM. 2 The basis for calculating flight operations charges is: a. the projected annual operating costs of the facilities and services for each segment, accounting for inflation (Art. 15 para. 1 and 2) and increases in productivity (Art. 15 para. 3); b. the projected expenditures for taxes and parafiscal charges, excluding recoverable value-added tax; c. the projected annual depreciation (Art. 16); d. reasonable capital interest (Art. 17). 3 The following income shall be deducted from the costs: a. earnings generated in each segment from sources other than flight operations charges; b. in the air traffic segment: transfer payments from the sector not relevant to flight operations in accordance with Article 34; these are to be applied after taxes and parafiscal charges; c. subsidies. 4 At Zurich Airport, the calculation of flight operations charges shall include: a. a surplus or shortfa
Para. 1 — Amended by No I of the O of 13 Nov. 2024, in force since 1 Jan. 2025 (AS 2024 709). Para. 3 let. b — Amended by No I of the O of 13 Nov. 2024, in force since 1 Jan. 2025 (AS 2024 709). Para. 4 let. b — Inserted by No I of the O of 13 Nov. 2024, in force since 1 Jan. 2025 (AS 2024 709).
Art. 30 «Originator pays» principle
The «originator pays» principle applies to the allocation of overhead costs and the internal invoicing of services between the cost centres of the sector relevant to flight operations as well as between the sector relevant to flight operations and the sector not relevant to flight operations.
Art. 31 Facilities and services in the air traffic segment
1 The airport operator allocates facilities and services to the air traffic segment as defined in Annex 2. 2 The operator may allocate further facilities and services to the air traffic segment if they fulfil the following conditions: a. They are provided exclusively by the airport operator or under its responsibility. b. They do not fall in the air safety or PRM segments. c. They are not financed through access or usage fees. d. They are mandatory for securing flight operations, especially: 1. take-offs and landings of aircraft, including the use of the taxiways and aprons; 2. parking of aircraft; 3. handling of passengers and their baggage in conjunction with take-offs and landings; or 4. handling of air freight directly to and from the aircraft.
Art. 32 Facilities and services in the air safety segment
1 The air safety segment includes all facilities and services that the airport operator is responsible for providing for the purpose of air safety. 2 Facilities and services in the area of air safety which the airport operator provides for access to the airport site by persons other than passengers may alternatively be refinanced through access fees.
Art. 33 Facilities and services in the PRM segment
The PRM segment includes all facilities and services which must be provided by the airport operator under Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006.
Art. 34 Transfer payments for the air traffic segment
1 30% of the economic added value of the sector of the airport not relevant to flight operations on the airside and in the road vehicle parking sector shall be used in the form of transfer payments to finance the costs of the segment air traffic in the sector relevant to flight operations. 2 If reasonable capital interest cannot be earned on average during one charge period in a sector affected by the transfer payments defined in paragraph 1, the difference may be deducted from the transfer payments, with the deduction distributed across the following two charge periods, in an amount no higher than the percentage defined in paragraph 1. 3 The airport operator may divide the transfer payment among the individual charge sectors within the air traffic segment according to the respective contributions made by these sectors to the generation of economic added value.
Art. 34 — Amended by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
Art. 35 Decision of the FOCA and issue of the charge regulations
1 The FOCA shall provide information on its probable decision within 30 days. Its decision shall be made within four months days of receipt of the charge proposal. In justified exceptional cases, this period may be extended to six months. 2 The airport operator shall issue the charge regulations in accordance with the approval decision.
Para. 1 — Amended by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, in force since 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
Section 5 …
Art. 36–38
Repealed by No I of the O of 14 June 2019, with effect from 1 Aug. 2019 (AS 2019 2067).
