Last updated: July 31, 2026
Want to know your rights so you can be protected if your flight is disrupted? Then you should be aware of the Montreal Convention. As a foundational international treaty, it sets a common set of rules for flights between its over 140 member countries. While the Montreal Convention provides a crucial legal framework, it is important to know that it works alongside other regulations. Often, laws such as EU 261 and the US Department of Transportation's rules act as separate regulations that can provide different or additional protections.
The Montreal Convention (MC99) is a treaty signed in Montreal in 1999, which established common rules for airlines to follow on international flights. It allows passengers to pursue compensation claims in cases when an accident occurs on an international flight. These include costs incurred as a result of flight delays, cases of lost luggage, or injuries.
Members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and states of the European Union are among the 141 parties that have ratified the convention.
The Montreal Convention is a broader international treaty that holds airlines financially responsible for a range of issues. This includes:
Instead of using the term “compensation,” the convention refers to these payments as “damages,” which are intended to cover either personal injuries or financial losses.
The Montreal Convention is the correct legal framework to use for:
For claiming compensation for delay, cancellation, or denied boarding on international flights, EU261 is almost always the better choice. It applies to all the EU countries and also to the members of the European Common Aviation Area, like Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Norway, and Serbia.
However, it depends on the countries you are travelling to—some countries have adopted their regulations, similar to the EC261. For example, after Brexit, the UK implemented the UK261 Regulation.
You could use the Turkish SHY Regulation for flights departing from Turkey, or Canada’s Air Passenger Rights if you are flying within Canada. The same applies to Saudi Arabia’s 2023 Air Passenger Protection Regulations and to Brazil’s ANAC which comes with its specifications.
First, let’s explain what the difference is between both. Lost baggage is when the airline can't tell you where your bag is. Delayed baggage, on the other hand, is luggage that simply hasn't arrived with you yet, even though its location is known.
In case of damage caused by delay, destruction, or loss of baggage, airlines have to pay up to 1,131 SDRs (about $1,622) per passenger.
SkyRefund’s Tip: It is advisable to prepare in advance. Keeping an inventory of the items you have packed and taking photographs of both your suitcase and its contents will provide useful evidence. This documentation can significantly facilitate the process of proving your claim and securing compensation should your baggage be lost or damaged.
The first step should always be to report the issue to the airline as soon as you can, ideally before you even leave the airport. The law gives you 7 days to file your claim for damaged or delayed bags. Due to this short time frame, passengers are advised to submit their claims as soon as possible after establishing the problem. A delayed bag is automatically considered lost after 21 days.
Under MC99, the carrier is liable for the inflicted damage in case of checked luggage destruction, loss, or damage. The condition is that the damage occurs while the airline is handling your baggage. The airline is freed from this liability if the damage results from an inherent defect.
For carry-on baggage, the carrier is liable if the damage resulted from its fault or its servants/agents. You are liable for compensation if the carrier admits your luggage has been lost. Note that if your checked bags have not arrived within 21 days, they are officially considered lost. Airlines are required to compensate you both for the cost of your suitcase and its contents.
If you are carrying any expensive items, you can file a special declaration. You will have to pay a supplementary sum for it. If your luggage gets lost in this case, the carrier is liable for a sum not exceeding the amount declared in your form.
Making a claim for delayed or damaged baggage under the Montreal Convention requires you to follow a specific process. First, you must report the issue at the airport's Lost Luggage desk. Within 7 days, you need to complete a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) for any damaged or missing bags. You can ask the airline to fill the form.
If a delayed bag is returned to you after 21 days but is damaged, you have a second opportunity to file a new written claim for the damage within 7 days of its return. To strengthen your case, take photos of the damage and save all receipts for any replacement items you had to buy.
Here is our tip: When you are preparing your baggage for a trip, make a list of what you’ve packed and take a quick photo of your suitcase and its contents.This makes it much easier to prove what was inside and to support your claim for compensation if your bag is lost or damaged.
Airlines must pay for damages caused by a delay to you or your baggage. However, they are not liable if they can prove they did everything they reasonably could to avoid the delay.
You cannot sue for punitive damages. These are special damages meant to punish the airline for distressing behaviour, not just to compensate you for your losses. For example, you can claim for the cost of a missed hotel night, but not for an extra award to punish the airline for the inconvenience.
If a delay forced you to spend the night at a hotel and to incur additional expenses, the airline has to cover these. The rule applies to any food and drink expenses for the time you had to spend waiting. Remember that you need to keep all relevant documentation (boarding pass, receipts, etc.). Note that the airline does not have to compensate you for the inconvenience that the delay causes, or simply for arriving late (unlike EC261).
For each passenger, the carrier's liability is limited to 4,694 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) (approximately $6,300). Special Drawing Rights are defined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and can be converted into national currencies. The amount is calculated at the value of the national currency at the date of the court decision judgement.
Based on the latest data for August 2025, here are the current exchange rates:
Your compensation grows with inflation. The limits set by the Montreal Convention are reviewed every 5 years. Additionally, if the inflation factor exceeds 10%, limits are also revised.
The Montreal treaty introduced a two-tier liability in case of aviation accidents. For each passenger, the carrier shall not be able to exclude or limit its liability for damages not exceeding 113,100 SDRs ($162,217).
This means that if you suffered an injury during an aviation accident and had to undergo treatment, the airline has to cover your expenses (medical bills). Note that the Montreal Convention requires the carrier to make advance payments to the entitled person. The aim is to help people who have suffered such injuries to meet their immediate economic needs.
To avoid such liability, the carrier has to prove that the damage:
The last provision is similar to the airlines’ requirement to prove ‘extraordinary circumstances’ under EC 261. Unlike it, the Montreal Convention provides a broad framework for liability. Specific regulations like EU 261, on the other hand, offer more targeted protections for passengers.
The Montreal Convention applies to all international flights between countries that have signed the treaty. It also covers flights within a single State Party if there is a scheduled stopover in another country. For example, a flight between the United States (State Party) and Russia (State Party) will be covered by the Montreal Convention. A trip that begins and ends in Russia but has a stopover in Kazakhstan (also a State Party) would fall under the provisions of the Montreal Convention because of that international connection.
Conversely, a wholly US domestic journey without any international stopovers does not fall under MC99, as it is not international.
Under MC99, passengers have several options when they want to claim compensation for damages. Your first option is to bring action for damages before a court in the home country (domicile) of the carrier. For example, KLM is registered in The Netherlands so you can bring an action against them in Dutch court.
The convention also allows you to bring your claim to a court in the air carrier’s principal place of business. This is where the airline is based and may be different from the domicile. For example, Norwegian Air International (NAI) is registered in Ireland, but their HQ is in Norway.
Your third option is to claim your compensation with a court at the place of business where the contract was made. Passengers are also allowed to bring action for damages before courts at the place of destination of their flight.
The most convenient option may be to file your claim with a court at the place of your permanent residence. Remember that in this case the nationality of the passenger is not important. Their permanent address may be in a different country.
Under MC99, damages are extinguished if action is not brought within 2 years from arrival at the destination. This means that you will have 2 years from the date of your arrival to collect the necessary documentation and file your claim. In the case of aviation accidents, the 2-year period is calculated from the scheduled arrival date. For luggage problems, passengers have 7 days to file a claim for damaged or delayed bags. After 21 days any delayed baggage is considered lost, so after this period you may claim compensation for baggage loss (rather than luggage delay).
However, when it comes to choosing the right protection, it is a good idea to have in mind how different laws apply to your flight.
EU261 is a powerful European Union law that provides specific, standardized rights for air passengers. It’s a helpful tool for disruptions that fall into clear categories, such as:
This regulation applies to flights departing from an EU airport (regardless of the airline) or flights arriving at an EU airport (if the flight is operated by an EU airline). A major advantage is that it’s a strict liability regulation.
This means the airline is on the hook for a fixed, flat-rate compensation—from $265 to $700 based on flight distance—unless they can prove the disruption was caused by “extraordinary circumstances” beyond their control, like severe weather or air traffic control strikes. Read more about your passenger rights.
If you are an American traveler flying to or from Canada, you may also be protected under Canada's Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) — a separate framework that works alongside the Montreal Convention to cover flight delays, cancellations, and overbooking on Canadian routes. It is important to know that cash compensation under APPR only applies when the disruption was within the airline's control—delays caused by weather, air traffic control restrictions, or security incidents do not qualify for cash compensation, though you may still be entitled to a refund or rebooking in those cases. When compensation is owed, the amount depends on how long your delay lasts and whether you are flying with a large airline (one that carries 2 million or more passengers worldwide per year).
For a delay of 3 to 6 hours, large carriers owe you CA$400 (approximately US$290); for 6 to 9 hours, that rises to CA$700 (approximately US$510); and for delays of 9 hours or more, you could be entitled to CA$1,000 (approximately US$730).
If you are denied boarding due to overbooking on a Canadian flight, compensation is significantly higher — up to CA$2,400 (approximately US$1,750) depending on how long the resulting delay to your arrival is.
For flight cancellations, APPR requires the airline to rebook you on the next available flight or offer a full refund if you choose not to travel.
These rights apply to any flight departing from, arriving in, or operating within Canada—meaning US passengers connecting through Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver are covered too. In all these situations, the airline is also required to provide meals and refreshments during the wait, and hotel accommodation if an overnight stay becomes necessary.
In the US, passenger rights are overseen by the Department of Transportation (DOT). Unlike EU 261, the DOT does not require airlines to provide fixed compensation for flight delays or cancellations. Instead, their regulations primarily focus on a passenger's right to a refund and on specific compensation rules for cases of involuntary denied boarding (overbooking).
How old is international air travel? The first scheduled daily international commercial service between London and Paris dates back to 1919. Only ten years later, in 1929, the aviation industry signed the Warsaw Convention. The goal of this treaty was to establish common rules for international flights. The document, originally signed by 156 parties, set standards for air travel that passengers today know well and take for granted. For example, it introduced mandatory passenger tickets, baggage documentation for checked luggage, and carrier liability in case of injury or death.
This important document was then amended in The Hague in 1955 and again in 1971 in Guatemala City. In the 1990s the aviation industry recognised the need to modernise, integrate, and simplify the already existing regulations. As a result The Montreal Convention was signed in 1999, and it replaced the Warsaw Convention.
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