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Coverage

Flight disruption

Colombia RAC 3 passenger rights

NationalCODerived or secondary source

Colombia

Rule id
air.co-rac3
Version
1.0.0
In force from
January 1, 2018
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
Colombia

In plain language

What this regime says.

Colombia protects air passengers through Part Three of the Reglamentos Aeronáuticos de Colombia, backed by the Estatuto del Consumidor. Assistance is graduated: a refreshment and a phone call from one hour, a meal from three, and hotel accommodation where a long wait runs into the night. Past five hours — or on a cancellation the airline is responsible for — the carrier must also pay compensation of at least 30 per cent of the value of the affected sector, in cash unless you agree otherwise.

Who is covered

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

What you get

Graduated assistance while you wait; rerouting or a refund; and cash compensation of at least 30 per cent of the sector value where the delay exceeds five hours or the cancellation is attributable to the airline.

Where claims go wrong

  • Complaining to Aerocivil. Passenger complaints go to the Superintendencia de Transporte; Aerocivil handles safety and operations.
  • Accepting a voucher. The 30 per cent compensation is payable in cash unless you agree to something else.
  • Assuming weather defeats everything. It goes to the cash compensation, not to the assistance obligations.
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. Reglamentos Aeronáuticos de Colombia, RAC 3Reglamentos Aeronáuticos de Colombia, Parte Tercera — Actividades Aéreas CivilesURL verified 2026-08-05Derechos y deberes de los pasajeros
  2. Ley 1480 de 2011 (Estatuto del Consumidor)Ley 1480 de 2011, Estatuto del Consumidor (Colombia)URL verified 2026-08-05
  3. Montreal Convention 1999, Art. 35Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (Montreal, 1999)URL verified 2026-08-05Art. 35

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

  • Refreshment, meals and, where the wait runs long, a hotelProvided free of charge by the carrier where the delay is attributable to it.Derechos y deberes de los pasajeros

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.

"Fue fuerza mayor o condiciones meteorológicas"

high likelihood

The carrier says the disruption was caused by force majeure or by weather affecting the safety of the flight, which excludes the compensation obligation.

What answers it

That exclusion goes to the cash compensation, not to the assistance. Ask the carrier to identify the specific meteorological or force majeure event, at which airport and at what time, and to explain why the flight was still shown as operating. Weather that had cleared hours before departure is not the cause of your delay; the carrier’s recovery scheduling is.

Reglamentos Aeronáuticos de Colombia, RAC 3 — Derechos y deberes de los pasajeros

"Le entregamos un bono"

high likelihood

The carrier settles the 30 per cent compensation with a travel voucher.

What answers it

The compensation is payable in cash unless the passenger accepts another form. Say in writing that you do not accept the voucher and require payment in cash.

Reglamentos Aeronáuticos de Colombia, RAC 3 — Derechos y deberes de los pasajeros

Where to take it next

  1. Petición, queja o reclamo (PQR) a la aerolíneaColombian carriers must operate a PQR channel and answer within a set period. Send it in writing, keep the radicado number, and cite RAC 3 and the Estatuto del Consumidor together — the second gives you remedies the first does not.Claim directtypically 15 days
  2. Superintendencia de TransporteBinding on themThe Superintendencia de Transporte, not Aerocivil, protects air passengers in Colombia and can adjudicate consumer complaints against carriers under its jurisdictional powers. Filing is free.Regulatortypically 90 daysofficial page

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

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.