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Coverage

Flight disruption

Chile — Código Aeronáutico passenger rights

NationalCLUnverified — check before relying on it

Chile

Rule id
air.cl-aeronautico
Version
0.1.0
In force from
August 5, 2026
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
Chile

In plain language

What this regime says.

Chile’s air passenger rights sit in the Código Aeronáutico, backed by the consumer statute Ley 19.496 and enforced in practice by SERNAC. The regime covers denied boarding on oversold flights, cancellation and delay, with assistance during the wait and either rerouting or reimbursement. Compensation is expressed in inflation-indexed Unidades de Fomento rather than in pesos.

Who is covered

Passengers on air services operating to, from and within Chile.

What you get

Assistance during a significant delay, rerouting or reimbursement, and compensation for denied boarding, cancellation and delay under the Código Aeronáutico — plus the consumer remedies in Ley 19.496, which a Juzgado de Policía Local can award directly.

Where claims go wrong

  • Reading a peso figure off a website. Chilean compensation is set in Unidades de Fomento, which are re-valued daily, so any quoted peso amount is out of date.
  • Going only to the aviation regulator. SERNAC and the Juzgado de Policía Local are the routes that produce money for the consumer.
  • Citing "Ley 21.180" as the source. We could not verify that as the aviation instrument; the provisions sit in the Código Aeronáutico.
The official claim route

Authority

Every citation,
with its pinpoint.

A claim that cites “EU law” gets filed. A claim that cites Article 7(1)(c) gets answered. These are the exact coordinates this entry rests on.
  1. Código Aeronáutico (Ley 18.916)Código Aeronáutico de Chile, Ley 18.916, as amendedURL verified 2026-08-05
  2. Ley 19.496 (Protección de los Derechos de los Consumidores)Ley 19.496 — Establece normas sobre protección de los derechos de los consumidores (Chile)URL verified 2026-08-05

Sources

Where a figure is indexed, converted or published by a regulator rather than fixed in the instrument, the provenance is recorded separately. Anything marked as a modelled estimate is exactly that — a model, not a statutory number.

What it imposes

Clocks, defences and the ladder.

A rule module builds these while it evaluates, because a limitation period depends on which forum is open to you. What follows is the structure this regime produces — deliberately with no dates and no figures, because those belong to your facts rather than to the law.

The clocks it starts

  • Montreal Convention two-year bar (international carriage)Fatal if missedThis is international carriage between States Parties, so Art. 35 of the Montreal Convention extinguishes the right to damages two years after arrival, the date the aircraft ought to have arrived, or the date carriage stopped. It is a hard cut-off. Local consumer legislation may give a longer period for some heads of claim, but do not rely on it.Montreal Convention 1999, Art. 35 — Art. 35Limitation period

What it entitles you to, beyond money

  • Care while you wait, and rerouting or a refundChile's regime obliges the carrier to look after you during a significant delay — food, drink, a means of communication, and accommodation where the wait runs overnight — and to offer either carriage on the next available service or the return of your money. Ask for it at the airport, in writing if you can, and keep receipts for anything you have to buy yourself. Those receipts are recoverable under general consumer law even where a specific aviation figure is unclear.
  • A written statement of the reasonAsk the carrier, in writing, for the reason for the disruption and for the compensation figure it says applies under the national regime. Whatever the answer, you now have it in writing, which is what every later step needs.

What the other side will say

Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.

"There is no compensation scheme here"

medium likelihood

The carrier says the country has no passenger-rights regime, or that its conditions of carriage are the only thing that applies.

What answers it

That is not right: Código Aeronáutico (Ley 18.916) and Ley 19.496 (Protección de los Derechos de los Consumidores) govern this. Ask the carrier to state, in writing, which provision it says applies to your flight and what it provides. A carrier that will not answer that question in writing is one you take to the regulator.

Código Aeronáutico (Ley 18.916)

"Only the Montreal Convention applies"

medium likelihood

On an international flight the carrier says the Montreal Convention is the exclusive source of its liability, so no national consumer remedy is available.

What answers it

The Convention governs claims for damage — death, injury, baggage, and damage occasioned by delay — and it is exclusive for those. It does not displace a national regulator’s power to require assistance, rerouting or a refund, which are regulatory obligations rather than claims in damages. Plead them separately.

Montreal Convention 1999, Art. 35 — Art. 35

Where to take it next

  1. Reclamo ante la línea aéreaClaim in writing, citing the Código Aeronáutico’s passenger rights provisions and Ley 19.496. Keep the response — SERNAC will ask for it.Claim directtypically 10 days
  2. SERNACThe national consumer service handles airline complaints, mediates with the carrier and publishes compliance data. It is free and it is the practical first regulator for a Chilean passenger.Regulatortypically 45 daysofficial page
  3. Junta de Aeronáutica CivilThe JAC is the civil aviation authority for economic regulation and can sanction carriers for breaches of the passenger rights provisions.Regulatortypically 90 daysofficial page
  4. Juzgado de Policía LocalBinding on themConsumer claims under Ley 19.496 are heard by the Juzgados de Policía Local, which can order both a fine and compensation to the consumer.Small claimstypically 150 days

Documents

What this regime can produce.

Every one of these is a document you send yourself, in your own name. Duesday never writes to anybody on your behalf and is never anyone’s agent.

The same claim type elsewhere

Belarus — Air Code of the Republic of Belarus and the Department of AviationBYNational — BelarusВоздушный кодекс Республики БеларусьConfidence: lowEU Regulation 261/2004 (air passenger rights)EUSupranational — 31 countriesRegulation (EC) No 261/2004Confidence: highGermany — contractual damages beyond the Article 7 sum (BGB)DENational — GermanyRegulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 12(1)Confidence: mediumItaly — ruined-holiday damages (danno da vacanza rovinata)ITNational — ItalyRegulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 12(1)Confidence: lowMoldova — air passenger rights under the EU–Moldova Common Aviation Area AgreementMDNational — MoldovaEU–Moldova Common Aviation Area Agreement, Annex IIIConfidence: mediumRussian Federation — Air Code Art. 120 (carrier liability for delay)RUNational — RussiaВоздушный кодекс Российской Федерации, ст. 120 (Ответственность перевозчика за просрочку доставки пассажира, багажа или груза)Confidence: highSpain — further damages beyond the Article 7 sumESNational — SpainRegulation (EC) No 261/2004, Art. 12(1)Confidence: lowTürkiye — SHY-YOLCU air passenger rights regulationTRNational — TürkiyeSHY-YOLCU, Kapsam (scope)Confidence: medium

Other rights in the same countries

Chile — Ley 20.009 fraud reimbursement and SERNAC FinancieroCLNational — ChileLey 20.009, as amended by Ley 21.234Confidence: mediumChile — Ley 21.398 one-click cancellation and the Ley del Consumidor retractoCLNational — ChileLey 19.496 sobre protección de los derechos de los consumidores, as amended by Ley 21.398Confidence: mediumChile — Ley 21.719 (in force from 1 December 2026)CLNational — ChileLey 21.719 que regula la protección y el tratamiento de los datos personales y crea la Agencia de Protección de Datos PersonalesConfidence: mediumChile — rental deposit (Ley 18.101, que fija normas especiales sobre arrendamiento de predios urbanos)CLNational — ChileLey 18.101, que fija normas especiales sobre arrendamiento de predios urbanosConfidence: low

Does this one reach your facts?

The engine runs every regime that could apply at once and reconciles them, rather than making you guess which page to read.

Run your factsBack to the catalogue

Not a law firm. Not legal advice. You send it yourself. This page describes a law; it is not advice about your situation and no outcome is promised.