shark67

From Zurich Airport :

In the 2006/2007 winter flight plan, check-in allocations have been newly organised. In future, check-in procedures for United Airlines and all European airlines belonging to the Star Alliance will be handled at Check-in 1, while all Oneworld and Skyteam airlines will be processed at Check-in 2.

For more information: PDF-file

greetings from ZRH

shark67

House

I was wondering when this might happen - it always seemed odd to me that UA and the like used Check-in 2 while BA and AA had prime spots in Check-in 1. I guess Check-In 2 is arguably more convenient than Check-In 1 for the train over to the E gates, though the queue for passport control can get long there depending on the time of day (compared to zero queue for passport control at Check-In 1 almost all the time).

That said, BA must be annoyed at ZRH's treatment of them in recent times. LX have a major advantage over BA in my view in being able to offer flights from the A gates, without the need for a train ride over to E.

I wonder when (if?) BA will invest in a lounge at ZRH - they have enough flights to justify it IMHO, and (in my somewhat biased view ) it's a major business destination. I'm sure the space exists somewhere within Concourse E, and by sharing with AA.

Lastly, has anyone worked out what they are going to do when Switzerland joins Schengen next year? Will the A and B Gates become Schengen only while E becomes non-Schengen, or will Swiss/LH get to keep their monopoly over the A Gates, with both sets of gates haveing Schengen and non-Schengen zones?

Goodness knows what they'll do at GVA - they don't exactly have acres of space!

Roger

Interesting. Do we know which gates BA will use? B or E?

And if B, lounges - will OW take over the *A lounge in T2, or is back to the Jet Aviation lounge?

I'll find out soon enough - tomorrow old, next week new - but it would be useful to know now.

shark67

[QUOTE=Roger]Interesting. Do we know which gates BA will use? B or E?
[QUOTE]

BA use gate E (there is no change).

House

Only the check-in will change - Check-In 2 is better located for the E and B gates, while Check-In 1 is better for A.

AJLondon

This is the first I heard of this happening! Do you have a link or something, and is it due to happen on Jan 1st or on some other date?

AJLondon

Oh, and I just found this, but it's not too recent or has a joining date:

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_re...ews/050605.htm

shark67

The Swiss electorate voted on 5 June 2005 to join both the Schengen and Dublin treaties. The agreements will not come into force before the new SIS databank (SIS II) becomes operative. This is not expected to happen before 2008.

AJLondon

Ahh okay. I was just quite surprised at the word of this happening next year.

House

Looks like I owe you an apology for my earlier post. I saw something about this in (of all things) a ZRH magazine that you can pick up round the terminals. This is not an area I am much of an expert in though I do take a passing interest in the news on this topic.

I just searched for some more up to date information. It seems that problems with the Schengen second generation information system and the need to sign Liechtenstein up as well have held up implementation - they are now quoting (in german only, alas) "by the beginning of 2008" over on the Switzerland Foreign Affairs ministry website and on (the ever reliable...) Wikpedia. They only have to formally give one month's notice of implementation.

It's been ratified and passed all the referenda in Switzerland and been approved at EU level, so it really is just a matter of time now. Note that Switzerland have already recognised Schengen visas in most cases for transiting Switzerland and for a very limited number of nationalities for short (up to 3 month) tourist trips more generally (China is the main example I am aware of). Worth keeping an eye on the situation between now and 2008.

One major thing to note is that anyone who is a UK resident (which seems to include those with some types of multi-entry UK visas) can enter Switzerland without a visa - see the last paragraph on this page http://www.eda.admin.ch/london_emb/e/home/visares.html

The key thing seems to be that the person has one of the following in their passport:

http://www.imes.admin.ch/einreise/vi...hriften/GB.pdf

AJLondon

No worries! I was just a tad interested as I was having a somewhat heated debate about this with a Swiss colleague just last week! He was blaming Brussels for everything under the sun, and I was <shock, horror> trying to defend the EU!

House

I usually find that a quick reference to gun control laws leads to a rapid change of subject (or to the person concerned blaming Brussels for exerting pressure on Bern to tighten the existing laws...).

shark67

For those of you who want to know more about Switzerland & Schengen:

Federal Office of Police, Bern (Ten questions and answers)

AJLondon

Excellent idea! Duly noted.