How Big A Problem Is Ban on Taxis and Minibuses at Geneva Airport?

A ban on taxis and minibuses 'illegally' using Geneva Airport is the second apparent attack on incoming skiers, principally from the UK, but from any other country too, in a few short months from the Swiss authorities.

Already fighting Switzerland's reputation for high overall cost following the booming value of the Swiss Franc after the 2008 economic crash, the latest headlines are probably the last thing those responsible for promoting ski tourism to Switzerland need.

The ban on taxis and minibuses has complex roots and the current situation is complicated too. The short version appears to be that Swiss taxi drivers feel they have been losing out to French and British companies running transfers and so various legal attempts have been made to limit the numbers – by adding fees both for the taxi/transfer companies and requiring hard-to-obtain certification for drivers.

Initial attempts by the Swiss authorities were declared illegal and high level 'intensive discussions;' are said to be going on between the French and Swiss governments over the issue. One option is too pick up on the French side of Geneva airport, but this has limited facilities.

The law is due to come in to force in the new year and will especially hit French taxi operators and British run transfer companies.

However it should be stressed that tour operator buses are not affected, only smaller vehicles such as taxis and mini-busses.

"It's against the European transport law and Geneva airport is against it," one tour operator told J2ski news, "That means, to put it simply, the Swiss authorities will have to back down sooner or later otherwise they'll have a court case coming. But we are all very cautious and see what will happen."

The Geneva Airport issue comes a few months after the Swiss authorities ruled that all staff working in foreign owned chalets should be paid the Swiss minimum wage, which is far higher than the normal package of perks including accommodation, skiing, food and living allowance many chalet staff receive and, some chalet operators warned, would mean they'd need to raise fees for holidaymakers making Swiss chalet holidays even less affordable.

Again that new legislation is currently being 'discussed at a high level' according to Swiss tourism officials.

That's potentially very 'interesting'. We'll be picked up by Cool Bus on the 22nd Dec from Geneva. I presume on the swiss side but actually I have no idea.

Will report back if we encounter any problems.

From what I understand they are trying to regulate the amount of traffic coming to and from the airport. In the past there has been a specific collection place for others collecting but don't know what is happening this year.

There are some things to consider the Swiss taxi drivers pay the airport for collecting at the front of the terminal and all have the correct commercial driving licences and are properly insured to carry paying passengers and paying Swiss taxes.

I am not saying anything is right or wrong, this is just another opinion.

So the french don't like the idea of not being able to work in a foreign country without a hard-to-obtain certification........ HMMMMMMMMMMM, no where's my sympathy?
What goes around comes around.

Feel for the brits though.

just to jump in on this thread I am collecting a friend at Geneva airport at 11am in jan 11..where should I wait or should I park on the French side ...any tips

Daved, I don't think it's going to affect you. You should park your car as usual and go meet your friend at the arrivals.

thanks for the info

The new regulations don't come into force until 1st January so if you're traveling before then there shouldn't be any problems unless the Swiss taxi drivers carry out their threat to blockade the airport on the 10th, 12th, 14, and 15th December.

David, if you pick your friend up from the Swiss side you will have to buy a Swiss motorway sticker (CHF 40) when you cross the border. You can avoid this by picking your friend up from the French side, finding the way can be bit tricky.



http://www.genevaairport.net/French-Sector/French-Sector-Sign.php

J2SkiNews wrote:

The Geneva Airport issue comes a few months after the Swiss authorities ruled that all staff working in foreign owned chalets should be paid the Swiss minimum wage, which is far higher than the normal package of perks including accommodation, skiing, food and living allowance many chalet staff receive and, some chalet operators warned, would mean they'd need to raise fees for holidaymakers making Swiss chalet holidays even less affordable.

Again that new legislation is currently being 'discussed at a high level' according to Swiss tourism officials.

As yet there is no minimum wage in Switzerland, but enough signatures have been collected to force a vote on introducing a minimum wage of CHF 4000 per month, which is about 2/3 of the average wage.

But, there are legally binding collective labour agreements that regulate working hours, holidays, and minimum wages in most industries. Until now canton Valais has issued permits for UK chalet staff without requiring that their employers pay the minimum wage for the hotel and restaurant industry, which for 2014 is CHF 3407 per month. At the moment they are thought to get CHF 1160 a month. In May the Zermatt hoteliers association made a formal complaint to the cantonal authorities citing unfair competition and in September the canton announced that they would require that the chalet operators complied with the collective labour agreement before issuing permits http://www.ollo.ch/medien/VSLO_GV_27_09_13.pdf

This is not new legislation, the federal law governing collective labour agreements came into force in 1941 and the hotel and restaurant industry has had one since 1999. This isn't really anything to do with the Swiss tourist authority. The relevant authority is the cantonal Department for Industry, Trade and Labour and the person to talk to is Peter Kalbermatten http://www.vs.ch/Navig/navig.asp?MenuID=21525&Language=fr