Swiss government cracks down on air travel for federal employees

The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions from air travel by federal government employees by 30% by 2030. © Keystone / Adrien Perritaz

From next year Swiss federal employees will be obliged to take the train for journeys shorter than six hours.

On Friday, the Swiss government approved its action plan for air travel by bureaucrats. The goal is to reduce CO2 emissions from air travel by federal government employees by 30% by 2030.

If travel times are shorter than six hours, federal employees will have to take the train instead of the plane. A list of “train only” destinations will be drawn up and perks for those flying will be reduced. For example, business class flights will be approved only if a direct flight is nine hours or more or a flight with a stopover is eleven hours or more. Furthermore, fewer people will fly to international conferences. The size of delegations should be consistently “as small as possible”. The measures will be implemented from mid-2020.

The action plan is part of the federal government’s climate package adopted by the governing Federal Council in July. It aims to make the federal administration climate-neutral by 2030. Greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 50% compared to 2006. The remainder will be offset by emission certificates.