The Swiss Federal Administrative Court has overturned fines totaling CHF 368.000 imposed by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) on the airline Swiss. The penalties were imposed for alleged violations of due diligence in checking the travel documents of passengers bound for Zurich between 2016 and 2018, according to the news agency AWP.
The court justified its decision by stating that Swiss had demonstrated that the personnel deployed had been appropriately trained and instructed. Furthermore, it was permissible to rely on the existing technical and organizational infrastructure of the airports in the United States. For these reasons, the Federal Administrative Court found no breach of the airline's duty of care.
These were cases in which passengers had arrived in Zurich without valid travel documents. The SEM had held Swiss responsible. The Federal Administrative Court's decision is not yet final and can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court. It remains to be seen whether the State Secretariat for Migration will take this step.
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