Almost nobody claims. The airline offers a meal voucher and an apology, the passenger accepts it, and a genuine entitlement goes unclaimed — usually because the deadlines passed before anyone looked them up.

The deadlines are the whole story here. They are shorter than any other consumer claim you are likely to have.

International flights: the Montreal Convention

For international carriage, the Montreal Convention 1999 governs the carrier's liability. Pakistan is a party, and the Convention applies to carriage between states that are parties to it.

It covers three things: death or injury to passengers, damage, loss or delay of baggage and cargo, and delay to passengers.

Two features matter.

Liability is limited. The Convention caps recovery for baggage and for delay by reference to a unit of account that is periodically revised. You are not recovering the full value of an expensive item in a suitcase unless you declared it and paid a supplement at check-in.

Liability is largely strict for baggage, subject to the carrier's defences — you do not have to prove the airline was careless.

For domestic carriage within Pakistan, the airline's conditions of carriage and the applicable domestic framework govern, and the position differs.

The deadlines — this is the part that matters

Under the Convention, written complaint to the carrier must be made:

  • Damaged baggage — within 7 days of receipt
  • Delayed baggage — within 21 days from the date it was placed at your disposal
  • And overall, an action must be brought within two years

Miss the 7 or 21 days and, in the ordinary case, no action lies at all. That is the single most important sentence on this page.

So: complete the Property Irregularity Report at the airport before you leave, and follow it with a written claim within the deadline. Do not rely on a verbal report or a reference number given at a desk.

What to do, in order

At the airport. Report immediately and get the PIR with a copy. For a cancellation or long delay, ask for written confirmation of the reason — it matters later.

Keep everything. Boarding passes, booking confirmation, baggage tags, receipts for anything you had to buy because of the delay or missing bag, and receipts or evidence of value for the contents.

Claim in writing, within the deadline, to the carrier's stated address for claims. State the flight, the PIR reference, what happened, what you are claiming and why, and annex the evidence.

Escalate if the airline does not respond or offers only a token amount.

Delay and cancellation

Recovery for delay under the Convention is for damage actually caused — reasonable expenses you incurred, such as accommodation, meals and rebooking — subject to the limit, and subject to the carrier's defence that it took all reasonably required measures.

Note that Pakistan does not have an equivalent of the European fixed-compensation regime. Passengers who expect an automatic fixed payment for a delayed flight are applying the wrong rules. What you recover is what you can evidence you lost, up to the cap.

For cancellation, the airline's conditions of carriage govern rebooking and refund, and a refund of an unused ticket is a contractual right rather than a Convention claim.

Denied boarding and overbooking

Governed principally by the carrier's conditions of carriage and the applicable regulatory rules. Ask for the airline's policy in writing at the time.

If you are asked to volunteer your seat, get the compensation offered confirmed in writing before you agree.

Where to complain in Pakistan

The airline first, in writing — most matters must go through the carrier's own process before anything else.

The Civil Aviation Authority, which handles passenger complaints against carriers operating in Pakistan.

The consumer forum, under the applicable provincial consumer protection framework, for deficiency in service — a proportionate route for consumer-scale claims. See e-commerce and consumer disputes.

Civil suit, where the amount justifies it, within the two-year period.

Cargo, not baggage

Businesses shipping by air are in a different position again — the Convention applies to cargo with its own notice periods, and the claim sits alongside any insurance recovery.

The discipline is the same as with sea cargo: notify immediately, survey before the goods are dispersed, and diarise the limitation date. See cargo claims for importers.

Practical advice

Photograph your suitcase and its significant contents before you travel — it takes a minute and it is the evidence of value you will otherwise lack.

Declare high-value items at check-in if you are carrying them, or better, carry them in the cabin.

Check whether your travel insurance or your card covers baggage and delay; it frequently pays faster and more fully than the airline, and the insurer can then pursue the carrier. See when an insurance claim is rejected.

And write, within the deadline. Everything else is recoverable; a missed 21 days is not.

How the firm can help

We advise passengers and businesses on claims against carriers — baggage, delay, cargo and injury — including whether the Convention applies and what the applicable limit is, and we pursue claims through the carrier, the regulator, the consumer forum and the courts.

For businesses, we also review conditions of carriage and freight arrangements before they matter.

If a claim has been refused or ignored, contact the firm with the PIR, the tickets and your correspondence — and do it before the two years run.