NOTICE TO PASSENGERS ABOUT LIABILITY LIMIT

 

The Montreal Convention or the Warsaw Convention may apply to your flight. These Conventions regulate and may limit the airline’s liability for death or injury and for any loss, damage or delay regarding your luggage.

The Montreal Convention applies to all Community airlines and carriage to, from, and within the Community as established by Community legislation.

Further details are available from your airline.

The Montreal states the following liability limits:

1. There are no financial limits to the liability in the case of passengers’ death or injury. For damages under 100,000 SDR (special drawing rights -, a mix of currency values established by the International Monetary Fund (IMF)), approximately €120,000), an airline cannot contest a request for compensation on the basis that it was not negligent or there was no other kind on blame it is liable for.
2. In the case of passenger delays, the airline is liable for any losses caused unless it has taken all reasonable measures to avoid them or if it was impossible to take them. Liability for passenger delays is limited to 4,150 SDR (approximately €5,100).
3. In the case of luggage delay, the airline is liable for the damages caused unless it has taken all reasonable measures to avoid them or if it was impossible to take these measures. Liability for late luggage is limited to 1,000 SDR (approximately €1,230).
4. The airline is liable for the destruction, loss or damage to luggage up to 1,000 SDR (approximately €1,230). If the luggage is registered, the airline is liable for the damages, even if it is not to blame, unless the luggage was defective. If the luggage was not registered, the airline is only liable if it is its fault.
5. Passengers may benefit from a higher amount of liability if they use a special declaration and pay a surcharge.
6. If the luggage is damaged, delayed, lost or destroyed, the passenger must make a written complaint to the airline as quickly as possible. In the case of damage to registered luggage the passenger must present the written complaint within seven days and in the case of delay, within 21 days, both counted as of the date the luggage is placed at the passenger’s disposal.
7. If the airline operating the flight is not the same as the contracting air carrier, the passenger has the right to present the complaint about damages to both of them. If an airline’s name or code is shown on the ticket, that airline is the contracting air carrier.
8. Any legal case for compensation for damages must be lodged within two years of the arrival date of the flight or the date the flight should have arrived.
9. The rules described above are based on the Montreal Convention of 28 May 1999, implemented by Community Regulation (EC) No. 2027/97 with the wording given by Regulation (EC) No. 889/2002 and the domestic legislation of the Member States.

 

The Warsaw Convention gives the following liability limits:

1. 16,600 SDR (approximately €20,000) for death or injury pursuant to the Hague Protocol that Modifies the Convention or 8,300 SDR (approximately 10,000 EUR) when the Convention is applied. Many airlines voluntarily renounce these limits.
2. 17 SDR (approximately 20 EUR) per registered kilo lost, damaged or delayed and 332 SDR (approximately 400 EUR) for unregistered luggage.
3. Notwithstanding the possibility that one of these Conventions possibly applies to your flight, you can get higher limits for lost, damaged or delayed luggage by completing the special declaration of the value of your luggage and paying a surcharge or taking out additional insurance under conditions to be defined by your carrier.

 

This notice is required by Regulation (EC) No. 889/2002. This notice cannot be used as the basis for a complaint for compensation or for the interpretation of the Montreal Convention as it is not part of the contract between the carrier and the passenger. The carrier is not liable for the contents of this Notice.

Ask the offices of your airline for more detailed information about how the Warsaw Convention or the Montreal Convention may affect your flight. If your journey includes more than one carrier, you should get information about the applicable liability limits from each carrier.