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Coverage

Flight disruption

Costa Rica — Ley General de Aviación Civil and consumer protection

NationalCRUnverified — check before relying on it

Costa Rica

Rule id
air.cr-aviacion
Version
0.1.0
In force from
August 5, 2026
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
Costa Rica

In plain language

What this regime says.

Costa Rica regulates airlines through the Ley General de Aviación Civil and protects passengers as consumers through Ley 7472. The Comisión Nacional del Consumidor at the MEIC is the body that can actually order an airline to compensate you; the DGAC handles the regulatory side.

Who is covered

Passengers on air services operating to, from and within Costa Rica.

What you get

Assistance during a significant delay, and rerouting or reimbursement on cancellation and denied boarding, plus the consumer remedies the Comisión Nacional del Consumidor can order.

Where claims go wrong

  • Going to the DGAC for compensation. The Comisión Nacional del Consumidor is the body that can order it.
  • Not claiming in writing at the time. Both routes work from the documentary record.
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. Ley 5150 (Ley General de Aviación Civil)Ley 5150 — Ley General de Aviación Civil (Costa Rica)URL verified 2026-08-05
  2. Ley 7472 (Promoción de la Competencia y Defensa Efectiva del Consumidor)Ley 7472 — Ley de Promoción de la Competencia y Defensa Efectiva del Consumidor (Costa Rica)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 refundCosta Rica'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: Ley 5150 (Ley General de Aviación Civil) and Ley 7472 (Promoción de la Competencia y Defensa Efectiva del Consumidor) 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.

Ley 5150 (Ley General de Aviación Civil)

"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 aerolíneaClaim in writing and keep the reference. Cite both the aviation regulation and Ley 7472.Claim directtypically 10 days
  2. Dirección General de Aviación CivilThe DGAC and the Consejo Técnico de Aviación Civil supervise carriers operating in Costa Rica and handle complaints about breaches of the aviation regulations.Regulatortypically 60 daysofficial page
  3. Comisión Nacional del Consumidor (MEIC)Binding on themThe consumer commission at the Ministry of Economy hears consumer claims under Ley 7472 and can order a supplier to compensate the consumer. This is the route to money.Regulatortypically 120 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.