China — 航班正常管理规定 (Flight Normality Management Provisions, CCAR-271)

The clocks it starts

• Two years for a Montreal Convention claim (Art. 35)This is the limitation period for the Convention claim for proven delay damages on international carriage, not for any national compensation scheme, which may have its own. It is fatal to the Convention claim specifically, and correspondence does not suspend it.Montreal Convention 1999, Art. 35(1) — Art. 35(1)Limitation period

What it entitles you to, beyond money

• Who pays for meals and a hotel depends on the cause, and the rule is explicitThis is the provision worth knowing. Where the delay or cancellation at the departure airport is due to the carrier — maintenance, crew, aircraft scheduling, its own operational decisions — the carrier must provide meals and accommodation itself, free of charge. Where it is due to weather, an emergency, air traffic control, security screening or the passengers, the carrier must help you arrange meals and accommodation but you bear the cost. So the first question in a Chinese delay is not "how much" but "what caused it", and the answer determines who pays. Make the carrier state the cause: it is required to inform passengers of the reason.
• Tarmac delay: water and food at two hours, off the aircraft at threeWhile you are held on board, the carrier must provide drinking water and food once the on-board delay reaches two hours. Once it reaches three hours with no confirmed departure time, the carrier must arrange for passengers to disembark and wait in the terminal, unless that would breach aviation safety or security requirements. Ask the crew to record your request.
• The carrier's own published scheme is binding on itArt. 17 turns a marketing document into an enforceable one. If the carrier's general conditions of carriage promise compensation for a delay attributable to it, that promise is the entitlement, and the CAAC can act on a failure to honour it. Download the conditions from the carrier's Chinese-language site — the English version is sometimes an abridgement — and quote the clause number.
• You are entitled to be told what is happening, and whenThe Provisions impose specific information obligations on carriers and airports: the reason for the delay and updates at defined intervals. A carrier that leaves a gate unattended for three hours is in breach of a regulatory obligation independently of anything it owes you in money, and that breach is what a CAAC complaint bites on.
• Montreal Convention damages for delay (international carriage)On international carriage between States Parties, Art. 19 of the Montreal Convention makes the carrier liable for the damage the delay actually caused you — the unused hotel night, the missed onward booking, the extra meals and transport — unless it proves it took all measures that could reasonably be required. It is capped at 6,303 SDR per passenger (the figure ICAO set with effect from 28 December 2024) and it requires receipts, not a formula. This claim exists independently of any national scheme, and airlines never mention it. The right is extinguished two years after arrival under Art. 35.Art. 19, Art. 22(1)

Where to take it next

1. 01Written claim to the airlineClaim in writing to the carrier, quoting the clause of its own general conditions of carriage that provides for delay compensation and the reason it gave for the delay. Under the Provisions it must handle the complaint and respond within a set period.Claim direct·typically 30 days
2. 02民航局消费者事务中心 (CAAC Consumer Affairs Centre)The CAAC runs a national consumer affairs centre for air passengers, reachable on 12326 and through its online portal. It is the escalation point once the carrier has had its opportunity, and it publishes complaint statistics by carrier, which is why carriers respond to it.Regulator·typically 90 days·official page
3. 03People's Court claimBinding on themChinese courts hear passenger claims against carriers, and the small-claims procedure is available for modest sums. The Consumer Rights Protection Law applies to carriage and supports a claim where the carrier misrepresented what it would do.Small claims·typically 180 days