SWISS considers suing air traffic controller

Swiss is investigating claims for compensation following the Skyguide IT outage Keystone-SDA

Swiss International Air Lines is considering claims for damages following an IT failure at air traffic controller Skyguide.

This follows a recent ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

The ruling relates only to an IT failure on June 21, 2026, a SWISS spokesperson told the AWP news agency. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung had previously reported on the matter.

SWISS is currently analysing whether and to what extent such incidents fall within the scope of the ECJ ruling. Another question is whether the ruling is applicable within the framework of the bilateral air transport agreement between Switzerland and the European Union.

The airspace closure at the time had significantly disrupted flight operations as 14 flights were cancelled, directly affecting around 1,750 passengers. In addition, there were numerous delays affecting the hub and overall operations.

SWISS did not provide any details regarding the potential financial scale of any claims. A calculation would involve considerable effort and is therefore not being carried out at present.

Additional costs were incurred, amongst other things, due to rescheduling and the support and rebooking of passengers.

At the same time, the airline emphasised that Skyguide is an indispensable partner. However, the recent incidents have shown that the resilience of the systems needs to be further strengthened.

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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.