Consult your doctor about your planned trip and all the details of the preparations required. Book your flight well in advance (at least two days before departure) and notify our Service Centre about your needs.

There are specially trained staff to assist our passengers with disabilities at all airports. Complimentary wheelchairs and accompanied transport vehicles are available at departure and on your arrival.

When you arrive at your destination airport your wheelchair will either be returned to you immediately or no later than at the baggage carousel. In the latter case you will be taken there in an airport wheelchair. There may be slight delays. We ask for your understanding for this.

Please note that your wheelchair cannot be returned to you immediately after disembarkation at the following airports: Catania, Hanover, Nuremberg, Olbia, Palermo, Rotterdam, Stuttgart and Valencia.

We recommend that passengers with disabilities arrive at the check-in desk 90 minutes before the ​latest check-in time.

Passengers with disabilities enjoy priority boarding on our flights. We will carry up to two wheelchairs and assistance dogs at no extra charge.

* Please note that our services are not available in all languages. If we do not offer your language, further communication about your application will be made in English.

We provide an onboard wheelchair on all long-haul flights and on short-haul flights on request. These wheelchairs fit along the aisle of the aircraft to enable passengers with disabilities to move inside the aircraft.

Our cabin crew will help you find space to stow your hand baggage and assist wheelchair users to get to the lavatory and back. Our cabin crew will also be happy to assist you in unpacking and identifying food on the tray. However, our crew is unable to provide any medical services, assistance in going to the toilet or with eating and drinking.

Seats on all our aircraft are fitted with removable armrests.

At present 5 out of our 12 Airbus A330-300 aircraft are fitted with wheelchair-accessible toilets.

We cannot offer seats in the emergency rows to passengers with disabilities for safety reasons.

We will provide an escort service at the airport on request. Certified assistance dogs are carried in the cabin free of charge. We ask passengers who wish to bring an assistance animal with them to notify us at least 48 hours in advance on flights with a scheduled flight time of eight hours or more.

Important information: many countries impose strict vaccination rules for animals. Your destination country may refuse your dog entry if do not have the documentation or certificates required. Some countries impose entry restrictions for animals, including assistance dogs.

We may require a medical care form (MEDIF) depending on the severity of the disability.

A MEDIF form is required:

• in the event of an acute disease or accident
• after surgery
• if a stretcher or oxygen is required
• for passengers who require a travelling companion for health reasons. Our crew can only provide limited assistance.

Please ask for the form at the time of booking or download the MEDIF form (PDF). Please complete the group form (PDF) for group travel by passengers with disabilities. Please submit the form no later than three working days before your departure to SWISS Medical Services (fax number +41 58 584 68 45).

Passengers with a chronic but stabile illness who travel frequently will receive a Frequent Travellers Medical Card (FREMEC) from us so that they do not have to complete the MEDIF form for every trip.

Please contact SWISS Medical Services for further information about MEDIF and FREMEC at: ​medicalservices@swiss.com.

Please note that a travelling companion is required in the following cases:

• if the passenger is unable to help themselves in the event of an emergency evacuation
• if the passenger is unable to communicate with our cabin crew regarding safety instructions
• if the passenger is unable to understand or follow safety instructions

With SWISS this regulation applies to all flights that start or end in the USA. A copy with the precise wording of this regulation is available on request at all airports from which we fly to the USA.

You can also obtain the form from the US Department of Transportation:

• by telephone in the USA via the free hotline for passengers with disabilities: +1-800-778-4838 (voice call) or +1-800-455-9880 (TTY)
• by telephone from the Aviation Consumer Protection Division on +1 202-366-2220 (voice call) or +1 202-366-0511 (TTY)
• in writing from the Air Consumer Protection Division, C-75, U.S. Department of Transportation, 1200 New Jersey Ave., SE., West Building, Room W96-432, Washington, DC 20590, USA
• via the website of the ​Aviation Consumer Protection Division