Human rights

Human rights are fundamental to the protection of human dignity and freedom. The Zurich Airport Group is committed to upholding them in its value chain.

Relevance

As a signatory to the UN Global Compact, the Zurich Airport Group has undertaken to protect and advocate for human rights towards third parties. The Compact covers issues such as child labour, forced labour, health and safety, freedom of assembly and the right to collective bargaining, property guarantees and the prevention of discrimination. It is important to the company that respect for human rights is guaranteed throughout the value chain.

Approach

The Code of Conduct of the Zurich Airport Group as approved by the Board of Directors sets out the company’s commitment to human rights. The company implements due diligence measures that are aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and ensure that its business activities do not have a negative impact on human rights. In this way, the company complies with the requirements of Swiss legislation on non-financial reporting and regulations on transparency and due diligence with respect to child labour.

In addition to the declaration of principles as part of its Code of Conduct, the Zurich Airport Group’s approach also includes the establishment of a management system. This is intended to ensure that human rights violations are identified and prevented and, in the event of actual violations, improvement measures are taken and redress is ensured, whether towards the company’s own employees, employees in the value chain or other potentially affected parties such as local communities.

Zurich Airport Ltd. works in various areas to ensure that human rights are upheld throughout its value chain. One of these is contractually obliging business partners to comply with occupational health and safety rights in accordance with existing legislation and international rules banning forced and child labour. At the Zurich site, this is done by including contractual clauses to this effect or, in the case of public procurement, by requiring a self-declaration from business partners. This is also taken into account at our majority-owned subsidiaries abroad, although the specific form this takes is different in each individual country. The contracts for the majority-owned subsidiaries in Brazil and Chile also include clauses designed to prevent forced and child labour. At Noida in India, contractual clauses require companies awarded concession contracts to comply with the ten principles of the UN Global Compact.

In the reporting year, the Zurich Airport Group intensively examined its human rights responsibility and prepared a separate risk analysis for each country in which it operates with majority-owned subsidiaries. This analysis provides the foundation for prioritising measures on a risk-by-risk basis. There are no substantiated indications of human rights violations caused by the Zurich Airport Group. Nevertheless, there is a risk that infringements might in principle occur, particularly in the upstream and downstream value chain. The focus is therefore on the procurement of goods and services. For this reason, Zurich Airport Ltd. has adopted a Business Partner Code of Conduct at the Zurich site, which requires business partners to comply with human rights requirements and to be transparent about this (see Business ethics). Zurich Airport Ltd. reserves its right to conduct inspections and terminate the business relationship in the event of serious violations if effective measures are not taken.

Requirements regarding the observance of human rights and the prohibition of child labour are also set out in public procurement law, to which Zurich Airport Ltd. is subject as a sector company in Switzerland (for further information, see Regional value creation and Anti-corruption). At the Zurich site, suppliers are obliged to offer Swiss working conditions and comply with occupational health and safety regulations, to follow the notification procedures and work permit rules for employees, and to offer men and women equal pay. For services provided outside Switzerland, the core conventions of the ILO must be observed. These obligations are also imposed on sub-contractors. If these obligations are not met, the contract may be revoked and the supplier barred from participating in tenders. During the year under review no instances of abuse were reported, with the result that there were no cases where non-compliance led to exclusion of contracting parties (see Compliance management).

To ensure compliance with human rights as well as labour, social, environmental and ethical standards, further risk-based measures are also taken during procurement. In the case of sensitive sectors or products, evidence of conformity is required in the form of certificates and adherence to international standards.

At the Group’s largest airport, Zurich Airport, the ownership guarantee is relevant in the field of human rights: at the Zurich site, there is an obligation, under certain conditions, to provide compensation for any loss in value of properties that is caused by noise exposure. The assessment of these cases takes place within the framework of formal expropriation proceedings, which ensure that expropriation occurs according to law and the ownership guarantee is upheld Zurich Airport Ltd. is granted a right of expropriation on the basis of its operating licence (see further details in the Noise section under Noise compensation).

Resettlements for Noida Airport

The site and perimeter of the new airport in Noida, India, were determined by the authorities of the state of Uttar Pradesh well in advance of the awarding of the airport concession to the subsidiary of Zurich Airport Ltd., Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL). The preparatory process also included the resettlement of 3,074 families, which was carried out in its entirety by and under the responsibility of the state. The provision of compensation for the relinquished land and the offer of new accommodation to the families was carried out in accordance with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (RFCTLARR Act, 2013) and was concluded in 2023 without the possibility for YIAPL to be involved. Due to the size of the company, YIAPL is obliged by the authorities to engage in charitable activities. To fulfil this commitment, YIAPL has opted to support the resettled people in the newly created residential neighbourhoods in their day-to-day lives, with the aim of strengthening the community. This includes activities in health and medical care, digital and financial skills, and vocational training and education. YIAPL has commissioned a local NGO for this.