Liability of the carrier

The present document resumes the liability rules applied by community airline carriers as required by community legislation and the Montreal Convention.

• Compensation in case of death or injury

The liability of an airline company in the European Union is automatically triggered at a height of 128,821 DTS for any death or bodily harm resulting from an air travel accident, when the death or harm did not result from the negligence, fault or wrongful omission of the victim.

Beyond 128,821 DTS, the airline company may discard or limit its liability by showing proof it was not negligent or at fault in any way or that this damage occurred as a result of a third party.

• Payment of advances

In case of death of or injury to a passenger, the airline company must pay an advance to cover immediate costs within a time-frame of 15 days, subject to the identification of the individual with the right to compensation.  In case of death, this advance may not be lower than the equivalent of 16,000 DTS.

This advance does not constitute a recognition of liability and may be deducted from the total amount paid subsequently. It is only refundable in cases of negligence, fault or wrongful omission by the victim, or if it is proven that the individual to whom this advance was paid did not have the right to compensation.

• Passenger delay

The airline company is liable for damages resulting from a delay to the air travel of its passengers, except in cases where it has taken all reasonable measures to avoid it, or if it proved impossible to take such measures. This liability is limited in this case to 5,346 DTS.

• Destruction, loss or deterioration of baggage

The airline company is liable in case of destruction, loss or deterioration of baggage of up to 1,288 DTS per passenger.

In the case of checked baggage, it is liable even if not at fault, unless the baggage was defective. In the case of unchecked baggage, the carrier is liable only if at fault.

• Greater limited liability for baggage

All baggage where the value is greater than 1,288 DTS must, in order to benefit from greater limited liability, be indicated by the passenger to the airline company a sufficient time before the Check-in Deadline (by making a special declaration while checking in and paying a small supplementary fee).

• Complaints concerning baggage

(b) In the event of damage, delay, loss or destruction of baggage, the passenger must file a written complaint with the carrier as soon as possible and within seven days (in the event of damage or destruction) and within twenty-one days (in the event of delay) from the date the baggage was made available.

• Respective liability of the carrier with whom the contract was concluded and of the actual carrier

If the airline company carrying out the flight is not that with which the contract was concluded, the passenger has the right to address their complaint to one or the other. If the name or the code of an airline company appears on the ticket, this carrier is the one with which the contract was concluded.

• Time-frame for recourse

Any action for damages must be brought in the two years following the date of arrival of the aircraft, or following the date on which the aircraft should have landed.

• Basis for the information

The rules described below are based on the Montreal Convention of May 28, 1999, put in place by the Community by EU rule no. 2027/97 that were modified by EU rule no. 889/2002 and by the national legislation of the Member States.

NOTICE: The present background note may not form the basis of claim nor an interpretation of the Community Rules or the Montreal Convention and does not have contractual value between the passenger and carrier. The content of the present note may not be considered as a commitment by the carrier.