Ambassadors will have to fly in economy class in the future

No more business class

Switzerland saves: ambassadors will fly economy in future

Swiss federal employees are actually entitled to business class on long flights. However, this privilege has now been canceled.

Switzerland has to save money: regardless of the flight duration, all Foreign Ministry employees will in future have to fly economy instead of business class. This also applies to ambassadors and state secretaries, as a spokesman says.

For very long flights to conferences, we advise you to arrive a day earlier in order to be able to recover from any exertions of the flight. Exceptions would only be approved in rare cases and upon request. The Foreign Ministry estimates the savings potential at 1.5 million francs per year – around 1.6 million euros.

Federal employees are actually entitled to business class on flights longer than nine hours or on connecting flights totaling more than eleven hours. This continues to apply to other ministries. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis had proposed switching to economy for everyone, but was unable to push through.

Cassis also saves money when flying, the spokesman said. But on a different level: on scheduled flights he forgoes the first class he is entitled to and flies business. He has to work on the plane and usually be ready for action immediately upon arrival, which is why economy class is not an option for him, said the spokesman. When traveling to multiple destinations or to destinations that cannot be reached directly, Cassis and the other government members usually used the government’s own aircraft.

The Federal Foreign Office in Germany says it is also making savings: for cost reasons, heads of foreign missions have regularly traveled in economy class this year, even on longer flights. According to legal regulations, civil servants are actually allowed to travel in business class from a flight time of four hours or more. Within Europe, all employees fly in economy, the ministry said.