Flight delay and cancellation compensation at Geneva Airport

Your rights when a flight from Geneva is disrupted

Geneva Airport serves western Switzerland and the neighbouring French Alps, with easyJet Switzerland as its biggest carrier alongside SWISS and a broad set of European airlines; winter ski traffic gives the schedule a pronounced seasonal peak. Although Switzerland is not an EU member, it applies Regulation 261/2004 through its air transport agreement with the EU, so the familiar bands apply: €250 for routes up to 1,500 km, €400 for 1,500 to 3,500 km, and €600 above 3,500 km when you arrive three or more hours late, are cancelled inside fourteen days, or are denied boarding involuntarily.

Which rules apply at Geneva

Under the EU-Switzerland agreement, departures from Geneva are treated like departures from an EU airport, whichever airline operates them. Arrivals into Geneva are covered when the operating carrier is an EU, EEA or Swiss airline — which keeps easyJet Switzerland and SWISS returns inside the rules, while a non-European carrier flying you into Geneva from outside Europe generally is not covered. Geneva's runway straddles the French border and the airport has a French sector, but the flight's legal departure point is Switzerland, so the Swiss application of EC261 is what governs it.

What to do at the airport

Ask the airline for its reason in writing and keep it. Note when the aircraft doors opened at your final destination — the timestamp the three-hour threshold is judged on. Duty of care begins at two hours on short routes, three on medium and four on long-haul: meals, refreshments, communication and a hotel with transfers overnight, whatever the cause. Keep receipts for anything you buy when nothing is provided.

Common causes of disruption

Winter Saturdays are Geneva's stress test: ski transfer peaks fill the terminal, snow and de-icing slow the runway, and Alpine weather generates holding and diversions. The airport also sits close to some of Europe's busiest airspace, so French air traffic control strikes and flow restrictions reach Geneva quickly — third-party strikes like these are usually extraordinary circumstances, while a strike by the airline's own crew generally is not, and either way the airline carries the burden of proof. Technical faults, crew shortages and tight rotations remain within the carrier's control and compensable.

Claiming for a flight from Geneva

The free eligibility check confirms coverage under the Swiss application of EC261 and the correct band. We submit and pursue the claim, testing unevidenced refusals; unresolved disputes can be raised with FOCA, the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation, which supervises passenger rights in Switzerland. The eligibility check is free. If we recover your compensation we charge a fixed EUR 39 success fee — the same whether you're owed EUR 250 or EUR 600. No win, no fee.