S.L. 460.14 Art. 6Request for transit.

(1) Prior to making a request for assistance for transit by air, the Principal Immigration Officer shall examine whether it is possible to use a direct flight to the country of destination and if this is not possible, he shall request transit by air via another Member State: Provided that, in principle, such a request shall not be made if the removal measure requires a change of airport on the territory of the requested Member State.

(2) The Principal Immigration Officer shall make the appropriate arrangements so as to ensure that the transit operation takes place in the shortest time possible and that it shall, in any case, not take longer than twenty-four hours: Provided that, in cases where the completion of transit operations cannot be ensured despite the assistance provided by the Principal Immigration Officer, which necessitates the consultation between the two sides to take all the necessary measures to continue the transit operations, the time limit may be extended to a maximum of forty-eight hours.

(3) A request for escorted or unescorted transit and any other assistance related thereto shall be made in writing by the Principal Immigration Officer, in accordance with the form as set out in the Schedule and shall ensure that the request reaches the requested Member State as early as possible and in no case later than two days before the transit: Provided that this time limit may be waived in particular in urgent and in duly justified cases.

(4) The Principal Immigration Officer shall not start the transit by air without the approval of the requested Member State: Provided that if the requested Member State does not reply within the stipulated period of forty-eight hours, the Principal Immigration Officer may commence the transit operations by means of a notification:

Provided further that the Principal Immigration Officer may reach a bilateral or multilateral agreement or arrangement with one or more Member States, which shall be notified to the Commission, to the effect that the transit operations may be started by means of a notification by the requesting Member State only.

(5) Costs related to the provision of emergency medical care and the provision of sustenance to the third-country national and, where necessary to his escort, shall be borne by the Principal Immigration Officer as the authority responsible in the requesting Member State, upon receipt of appropriate information with regard to the criteria of quantification of the costs from the requested Member State.