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How to use your air passenger rights for delays, cancellations and lost baggage

What you can claim when your flight is delayed or cancelled or your baggage never arrives, which document you must get before leaving the airport, and how to escalate to Turkey's civil aviation authority and the consumer arbitration board if the airline says no.

Standing at a gate for hours, or watching the baggage belt empty out, the first question is always the same: do I actually have a right here? You do. Denied boarding, cancellation and delay are governed by Turkey's SHY-Yolcu regulation, while lost or damaged baggage falls under the Montreal Convention.

These rights do not apply themselves, though. You have to ask for them, collect the right paperwork at the right moment, and respect strict deadlines. With baggage in particular, a few days' delay in filing can cost you the claim entirely.

This guide walks through the whole path in order: from the moment things go wrong at the airport, to a written claim with the airline, and then on to the aviation authority and the consumer arbitration board.

Time45 minutes
DifficultyMedium
Steps10

🧰 What you need

Ticket and booking (PNR) reference
Boarding pass, or a screenshot of the electronic boarding pass
Baggage tag and, if issued, your copy of the PIR (property irregularity report)
Screenshot or SMS of the delay/cancellation notice
Receipts and invoices for anything you paid for while waiting
e-Devlet credentials and identity details

Steps

Identify which situation you are in Start by naming the event correctly: denied boarding, cancellation, or delay. The SHY-Yolcu regulation treats these three separately and each carries a different outcome. The regulation covers scheduled and non-scheduled flights operated by Turkish carriers to and from airports in Türkiye, and flights operated by foreign carriers departing from airports in Türkiye. Confirm from the outset that your flight falls within that scope.
Collect evidence before you leave the airport Photograph the delay information on the terminal display and the notice the airline sent you. Do not throw away your boarding pass or baggage tag. Note the actual departure and arrival times; compensation turns on the gap between the scheduled and the actual time. The burden of proving when it told you about a cancellation lies with the airline, but keep every notice you receive anyway.
Ask for the care you are owed while waiting Article 10 of the regulation sets out free assistance based on waiting time: hot and cold drinks for delays of two to three hours; drinks plus breakfast or a meal for three to five hours; and for five hours and over, additional drinks and a light snack on top of that. Where one or more nights' stay becomes necessary, the airline must cover hotel accommodation and transport between the airport and the hotel. You are also entitled to two phone calls, fax messages or e-mails with no time limit. Quote this article to staff; if they refuse, pay yourself and keep the receipt.
If the delay exceeds five hours, put a refund on the table When a delay reaches at least five hours, you may invoke the reimbursement right in Article 9: the full ticket price for the part of the journey not made, plus, where the trip no longer serves any purpose, a free return flight to your original point of departure. Reimbursement must be made within seven days at the latest, in cash or by bank transfer. Alternatively you can ask to be re-routed at the earliest opportunity, or on a later date of your choosing. The choice is yours.
Check whether compensation is due For denied boarding and cancellation, compensation is 100 euros on domestic flights. On international flights it is 250 euros for flights of 1,500 km or less, 400 euros for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, and 600 euros for flights over 3,500 km. The Turkish lira equivalent is calculated using the Central Bank foreign exchange selling rate on the day the compensation is paid. The airline may halve the amount if it re-routes you on a close alternative flight, and owes nothing if it proves extraordinary circumstances. One 2024 addition matters a lot: if a flight is delayed for technical or operational reasons and you reach your final destination three hours or more late, the airline must immediately meet its Article 8 and Article 9 obligations.
If your bag is missing, file a PIR before you exit If your bag did not arrive, is damaged, or items are missing, go to the lost property desk in the arrivals terminal and have a PIR (property irregularity report) drawn up. Always take a signed copy. That report is the basis of everything that follows; leaving the airport without one makes proof much harder. Photograph the damaged case and any broken contents as well.
Do not miss the written complaint deadlines for baggage Under the Montreal Convention, in the case of damage to checked baggage you must complain to the carrier immediately on discovering the damage and at the latest within seven days of receipt. In the case of delay, the complaint must be made within twenty-one days from the date the baggage was placed at your disposal. If no complaint is made within these periods, no action lies against the carrier except in the case of fraud. If the baggage has not arrived within twenty-one days of the date it ought to have arrived, you may enforce the rights arising from the contract of carriage, which in practice means the bag counts as lost.
Submit a written claim to the airline Gather every document into a single file and submit a written claim through the airline's official contact form or customer service address. State plainly what you are asking for: a refund, compensation, reimbursement of expenses you covered, or baggage compensation. Always include the flight number, date, PNR and PIR reference. Keep proof of the submission, such as the reference number or the confirmation screen.
Escalate to the civil aviation authority if nothing happens Complaints about denied boarding, cancellation, delay and downgrading must first go to the operating airline; if that leads nowhere, you can file with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (SHGM). Applications go through its passenger rights system at yh.shgm.gov.tr, with a call centre on 444 60 01. Applications from unidentified persons or with incorrect contact details are not reviewed, and the claim must come from the passenger or a notarised representative. Note the limit: baggage complaints, ticketing, name changes and refunds are private law matters and are not examined under the passenger rights regulation.
Go to the arbitration board or court if you still are not paid An application to SHGM is an administrative route; it does not itself award you money. To recover a sum you must apply to a consumer arbitration board or a consumer court. From 1 January 2026, consumer disputes below 186,000 TL go to the provincial or district consumer arbitration board, and anything above that goes directly to the consumer court. The right to damages under the Montreal Convention is extinguished if no action is brought within two years of the date of arrival, so watch that clock.

⚠ This guide is general information. Yudum cannot be held responsible for the outcome of following it; for official procedures always rely on the institution's own statement. Steps and fees change over time.