Up to now, the handling agents have been in charge of handling of passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) on behalf of the airlines. With effect from 1 November 2009, Unique (Flughafen Zürich AG) will take over the responsibility for these services and therefore will levy a charge of 1 Swiss Franc per departing passenger.

The assistance to disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) will be restructured by 1 November 2009. Basis for the new organisation is a regulation by the European Community that assigns the responsibility for PRM handling to the airports and that sets uniform, binding quality standards for these services. The regulation has been in force at European airports since 26 July 2008 and has been taken over into the Bilateral Agreement on Air Transport of Switzerland and EU on 16 December 2008. 1 November 2009 has been set as the implementation deadline for Swiss airports.

No increase, but shifting of costs
Each day, about 330 passengers with reduced mobility are taken care of at Zurich Airport. Up to now, this service has been offered by handling agents on behalf of the airlines. Starting from 1 November 2009, Unique (Flughafen Zürich AG) will be responsible for the services and the respective charging and thus will levy a charge of 1 Swiss Franc. The charge will be collected solidly from all passengers departing from Zurich Airport. For Unique (Flughafen Zürich AG), the charge will be strictly cost-related - i. e. neutral result-impact - and shall not lead to a cost increase for airlines and passengers. The costs that up to now have occurred on the airlines' side will only be shifted to the airport.