Commentaries: Art. 122a

Any air carrier that violates its duty of care under Article 92 paragraph 1 shall be required to pay 4000 francs for each person carried who is not in possession of the required travel documents, ETIAS travel authorisations, visa or residence documents. In serious cases, the penalty is 16 000 francs per person. In minor cases, proceedings may be waived.¹
A violation of the duty of care is presumed if the air carrier carries persons who are not in possession of the travel documents, ETIAS travel authorisations, visas, or residence documents required for entry to the Schengen area or for transit through the international transit zones of the airports and who are refused entry.²
There is no violation of the duty of care where: a. the air carrier proves that: 1. the forgery or falsification of a travel document, visa or residence document was not clearly recognisable, 2. it was not clearly recognisable that a travel document, visa or residence document did not pertain to the person carried, 3. it was not immediately possible to ascertain the authorised term of stay or points of entry on the basis of the stamps on the travel document, 4.³ it took all the organisational measures that can reasonably be required to prevent it from carrying persons that do not possess the travel documents, ETIAS travel authorisations, visas and residence documents required for entry to the Schengen area or for transit through the international transit zones of the airports, 5.⁴ it was not possible to establish whether a valid ETIAS travel authorisation had been issued because of a malfunction in ETIAS; b. the air carrier provides credible evidence that it was coerced into carrying a person.
The Federal Council may provide for exemptions from the penalty under paragraph 1, in particular in situations of war or natural disaster.

Amended by Annex No 1 of the FD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Approval and Implementation of the Exchange of Notes between Switzerland and the EU on the Adoption of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 establishing a European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), in force since 15 June 2025 (AS 2025 346;BBl 2020 2885). ↩
Amended by Annex No 1 of the FD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Approval and Implementation of the Exchange of Notes between Switzerland and the EU on the Adoption of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 establishing a European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), in force since 15 June 2025 (AS 2025 346;BBl 2020 2885). ↩
Amended by Annex No 1 of the FD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Approval and Implementation of the Exchange of Notes between Switzerland and the EU on the Adoption of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 establishing a European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), in force since 15 June 2025 (AS 2025 346;BBl 2020 2885). ↩
Inserted by Annex No 1 of the FD of 25 Sept. 2020 on the Approval and Implementation of the Exchange of Notes between Switzerland and the EU on the Adoption of Regulation (EU) 2018/1240 establishing a European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), in force since 15 June 2025 (AS 2025 346;BBl 2020 2885). ↩

Art. 122a

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