Bundesamt für Zivilluftfahrt (BAZL) Medien & Öffentlichkeit Safety Promotion

The Federal Office of Civil Aviation, known as BAZL, is the Swiss government body for civil aviation in Switzerland. Its Safety Promotion work is part of its media and public information. The office covers infrastructure, aircraft, drones, flight operations, aviation personnel and passengers. It also publishes an Annual Safety Report.

The office states its vision as Switzerland being a strong aviation nation. It links this to research and development of new technology, to the economy and to the country's international air links.

Safety is a main theme. The office runs an occurrence reporting system for aviation events. Its safety report for 2025 counted nearly 15,000 occurrence reports in commercial and leisure flying. It also noted more incidents with unruly passengers, more GPS jamming and more near misses between aircraft in the air. It recorded four leisure flying accidents with six deaths.

For general aviation, BAZL runs a safety campaign called Stay Safe. It posts regular articles on current safety topics. The office also meets industry directly. More than 200 Swiss aviation professionals joined its Swiss Aviation Safety and Operations Conference in May 2026. It also ran a panel at the AERO fair in Friedrichshafen on making aircraft easier to see electronically in Swiss airspace.

Electronic visibility is a growing project. BAZL plans an e-conspicuity requirement by 2027 under a project called FASST-CH. It offers financial help for e-conspicuity devices. Applications are open until 30 November 2026. It has also helped add a drone activity zone layer to a federal map app, which gives helicopter pilots another source for flight preparation.

BAZL is also a regulator and licensing office. It handles plans for airport projects, such as the new Dock A at Zurich Airport. It decides on the use of aerodromes. It also follows rules shared with the European Union. Switzerland takes part in the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and the office reports on the cost of that link. It publishes passenger rights guidance for cancelled flights and aerobatic flying advice to limit the impact on residents.

Services

• Aviation safety oversight
• Occurrence reporting
• Annual Safety Report
• Stay Safe campaign
• Drone rules
• Airport plan approvals
• Passenger rights information
• Aviation conferences