Federal Office of Civil Aviation

The Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA, German: Bundesamt für Zivilluftfahrt; French: Office fédéral de l'aviation civile; Italian: Ufficio federale dell'aviazione civile) is the Swiss civil aviation agency, a division of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications. Its head office is in Bern, and it has an office at Zurich Airport.[1]

Federal Office of Civil Aviation
(in German) Bundesamt für Zivilluftfahrt
(in French) Office fédéral de l'aviation civile
(in Italian) Ufficio federale dell'aviazione civile
(in Romansh) Uffizi federal d'aviatica civila

The building of the Federal Office of Civil Aviation, the Federal Roads Office and the Federal Office of Energy (2014).
Agency overview
Formed1920 (1920) (renamed in 1979)
JurisdictionFederal administration of Switzerland
Minister responsible
Parent agencyFederal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications
Websitewww.bazl.admin.ch

It is within the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications responsible for the regulation and oversight of civil aviation. This includes personnel (air traffic controllers and pilots, among others), aircraft (including hot air balloons) and infrastructure (mainly airports).

In addition, FOCA supports the international contacts of Switzerland in the field of aviation, such as the numerous air services agreements with other states. The FOCA also issues permits for hazardous shipments by air, this concerns mainly chemical hazardous substances such as ammunition, as well as biological or radioactive cargo. These authorizations are communicated to the Swiss Air Force which then monitors the corresponding flight in Swiss airspace with the FLORAKO air surveillance system. FOCA is also the contact point for the embassies of other nations, if they want to use Swiss airspace with a State aircraft. The Air Force modified all-diplomatic clearance requests that are filed outside the opening times of the FOCA.

In 2004 FOCA had a budget of 75 million Swiss francs and had 194 employees. The headquarters of the FOCA is located together with the Federal Office of Transport, Federal Office of Energy, and the Federal Roads in the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications building in the Bern suburb of Ittigen.

Aircraft of FOCA

FOCA operates the federal government fleet of civil aircraft, based at Bern Airport.

HB-KEZ Aircraft of FOCA

In order to maintain independence in investigations relating to incidents in the aviation sector, the Air Accident Investigation Bureau is not part of FOCA. In November 2011 the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU) and the investigative body for trains and ships (UUS) were merged, forming the Swiss Accident Investigation Branch (SUST). FOCA operates the aircraft of SUST, based at Payerne Airport.

Former Aircraft

Other civilian state aircraft in Switzerland

See also

References
  1. "Our Location Archived 24 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine." Federal Office of Civil Aviation. Retrieved on 19 October 2012. "Mühlestrasse 2 3063 Ittigen" (Map) and "Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) Operation Center 1 8058 Zürich-Flughafen"
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. S / N 338, pc-6 .com.
  4. Swiss Aircraft Register
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