I will be going on my honeymoon to Italy this summer. We have booked our flight from Pittsburgh to Chicago to Zurich and then to Florence. Since Switzerland is not apart of the EU, will we have to go through customs and immigration in Switzerland and then recheck our bags to go to Italy?
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19099 posts
It's been twenty years since I flew connected through Zurich (Munich to Marseilles) but, as I remember, we didn't see our luggage which was checked through to France, and we stayed inside an international area and didn't have to go through immigration, either. I believe today, with Schengen, you will go through immigration in Zurich but not in Florence. http://www.zurich-airport.com "Passengers arriving from a non-Schengen country and transferring to a Schengen member state, or vice versa, also now have to pass through passport control in Zurich." http://www.zurich-airport.com/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-107 Bottom of page.
Posted by
Los Angeles, California
1986 posts
Cant answer your question directly. But often when we return to USA we go through Customs and Immigration at our arrival City on East Coast, and give them back our bags in the arrivals area before we fly on to Los Angeles. you may go through something similar at Zurich. Hopefully someone can answer more specifically for flights to Europe
Posted by
New Paltz, NY
9100 posts
For flights to Europe, traveling on the same ticket/airline/alliance one doesn't have to collect checked luggage for connecting at a European airport. The luggage will automatically be sent to the next flight. The exception is if you are transferring to a discount airline. The discount airlines to do luggage transfers. Even though Switzerland is not a member of the EU, it is part of the Schengen Agreement.