DEPLOYDatabase

Regulation · Operational restriction

Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941)

Switzerland's drone (UAS) regulatory framework, supervised by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA/BAZL). The DETEC Ordinance on Special Category Aircraft (VLK, SR 748.941) incorporates the EU drone rules (Regulations 2019/947 and 2019/945) into Swiss law, effective 1 January 2023, establishing the Open/Specific/Certified categories. This is the framework under which Matternet operated medical drone delivery for Swiss Post; those operations were suspended in August 2019 after a second crash (a parachute-tether failure near Zurich).

Jurisdiction: Switzerland · Effective 2023-01-01

Machine-readable surfaces

Sources (4)

  1. https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/eli/cc/2022/802/en
  2. https://www.bazl.admin.ch/en/flight-rules-drones
  3. https://spectrum.ieee.org/swiss-post-suspends-drone-delivery-service-after-second-crash
  4. https://www.post.ch/-/media/post/ueber-uns/dokumente/bericht-expertenrat-post-drohnen.pdf?sc_lang=en

Status history

  • In effect · 2023-01-01 · editor:DEPLOY content-agent (Sprint 5c-1 EU/Europe regs)

    Switzerland drone framework (VLK SR 748.941, incorporating EU 2019/947) effective 1 Jan 2023; FOCA-supervised. Matternet/Swiss Post ops suspended 2019.

Common questions

What does Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941) cover?
Switzerland's drone (UAS) regulatory framework, supervised by the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA/BAZL). The DETEC Ordinance on Special Category Aircraft (VLK, SR 748.941) incorporates the EU drone rules (Regulations 2019/947 and 2019/945) into Swiss law, effective 1 January 2023, establishing the Open/Specific/Certified categories. This is the framework under which Matternet operated medical drone delivery for Swiss Post; those operations were suspended in August 2019 after a second crash (a parachute-tether failure near Zurich).
Where does Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941) apply?
Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941) is recorded as a operational_restriction applying in Switzerland on the DEPLOY registry.
When did Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941) take effect?
Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941) is recorded as effective January 1, 2023 on the DEPLOY registry.
Is Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941) still in effect?
Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941) is currently in effect and applies to covered operators in the named jurisdiction.
What types of robots does Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941) apply to?
Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941) is recorded as applying to drones on the DEPLOY registry.
Methodology: Verified · 4 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-05-31

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-05-31

Architectural position

Cohort: aerial

Sources by quality tier

3
unclassified
Unclassified source
1
secondary-industry-publication
Industry publication

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for Switzerland drone (UAS) framework (FOCA; VLK, SR 748.941).

Canonical ID 1f99d3ae-ae8e-4df1-b1b2-71a9c543f817