Geneva to Lift G7 Border Controls on 18 June After Phased Relaxation Starts Today

Geneva’s special border regime introduced for the G7 summit in nearby Évian-les-Bains is being dismantled sooner than many travellers expected. The Canton’s State Council confirmed at 15:30 on Wednesday, 17 June, that three secondary crossings (Chancy 1, Monniaz and Landecy) would reopen immediately to traffic in the France-bound direction. All remaining checkpoints around the canton will resume normal operation at 06:00 on Thursday, 18 June. The announcement marks the beginning of the end of a 10-day period of Schengen-internal border checks that Switzerland re-introduced on 10 June as part of a joint Franco-Swiss security plan for the 15-17 June G7. During the summit, police carried out systematic ID inspections, enforced vehicle lanes reserved for accredited traffic and closed several minor crossings entirely. The measures triggered kilometre-long queues for daily commuters and delivery traffic, especially after the A1 motorway link between Geneva Airport and the Bardonnex customs post was sealed off. According to the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), almost 50 000 additional vehicles were processed each day, forcing officers to redirect flows to the Perly and Thônex-Vallard crossings and to rely on mobile passport-control teams. Geneva Airport nevertheless kept all scheduled commercial flights running, but urged departing passengers to arrive three hours early and provided live congestion updates via its dedicated G7 microsite. For business-travel managers, the early reopening eliminates the need for contingency routings through Vaud or the Mont Blanc tunnel that had been recommended for the remainder of the week. Cross-border coach operators are reinstating their original timetables from Friday, 19 June, and freight forwarders say that normal transit times for just-in-time deliveries in the watch and biotech sectors should be restored before the weekend. The episode is a reminder that Switzerland, although land-locked and a member of the Schengen Area, can still temporarily reinstate internal border checks for major events. Companies with internationally mobile staff are therefore advised to keep copies of passports and residence permits on hand and to sign up for the FOCBS Traveller Info service, which issues SMS alerts whenever extraordinary controls are announced.