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Flight disruption

Mexico Ley de Aviación Civil, art. 47 Bis

NationalMXDerived or secondary source

Mexico

Rule id
air.mx-lac
Version
1.0.0
In force from
June 26, 2017
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
Mexico

In plain language

What this regime says.

Article 47 Bis of Mexico’s Ley de Aviación Civil bands the airline’s obligations by how late you were. From one hour the carrier’s own published compensation policy applies, and it must at minimum provide discounts or food and drink. Past two hours and under four, any discount must be at least 7.5 per cent of the ticket price. Past four hours — and on any cancellation attributable to the carrier — you get the full cancellation package: your choice of refund, substitute transport with meals and lodging, or a later flight, plus an indemnity of not less than 25 per cent of the fare.

Who is covered

Passengers of concession holders, assignees and permit holders operating Mexican air transport, on domestic and international services.

What you get

Food, drink and, where an overnight is forced, lodging and transfers; a discount of at least 7.5 per cent for a two-to-four hour delay; on a cancellation or a delay over four hours, your choice of a full refund, substitute transport or a later flight, plus an indemnity of at least 25 per cent of the fare, payable within ten days of your claim.

Where claims go wrong

  • Repeating the "4.25 times the fare" figure that circulates widely. We could not find it in art. 47 Bis and do not state it.
  • Treating the 25 per cent as a ceiling. The statute says "not less than", so it is a floor and the carrier’s own policy may give more.
  • Accepting a 7.5 per cent voucher as settlement of a cancellation. Those are different obligations in different bands.
  • Missing the ten-day payment window without saying so. Quote it in the claim; it is a specific statutory deadline.
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 de Aviación Civil, art. 47 BisLey de Aviación Civil (México)URL verified 2026-08-05art. 47 Bis
  2. Ley Federal de Protección al ConsumidorLey Federal de Protección al Consumidor (México)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

  • Carrier must pay within 10 calendar days of the claimArticle 47 Bis requires the carrier to pay the indemnities it provides for within ten calendar days of the passenger’s claim, except for the food and lodging obligations, which must be met as the delay is happening rather than reimbursed later. The clock runs from your claim; we have dated it from the disruption because that is the date we have.Ley de Aviación Civil, art. 47 Bis — art. 47 BisResponse due
  • 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

  • Refund, substitute transport, or a later flight — your choiceThe election belongs to the passenger, not to the airline. Where substitute transport is chosen, the carrier must also provide food and, where the wait runs overnight, lodging and transport between the airport and the hotel.art. 47 Bis
  • Indemnity of not less than 25% of the fareArticle 47 Bis sets a floor of 25 per cent of the ticket price, payable on top of the refund or the substitute transport rather than instead of it.art. 47 Bis

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.

"La causa no nos es imputable"

high likelihood

The carrier says the cancellation or delay was not attributable to it, so no indemnity is payable under art. 47 Bis.

What answers it

Ask it to state the cause in writing and to identify what it did to mitigate. Attributability is the carrier’s to establish, and the food, drink and lodging obligations attach to the fact of the wait rather than to fault. A carrier that provided none of those has a compliance problem whatever caused the delay.

Ley de Aviación Civil, art. 47 Bis — art. 47 Bis

"El cupón de descuento es la indemnización"

medium likelihood

The carrier issues a discount voucher and treats it as satisfying the 25 per cent indemnity for a cancellation.

What answers it

The 7.5 per cent discount applies to the two-to-four hour band. The 25 per cent indemnity for a cancellation, or for a delay over four hours, is a separate and larger obligation that sits on top of the refund or the substitute transport. Do not let one be swapped for the other.

Ley de Aviación Civil, art. 47 Bis — art. 47 Bis

Where to take it next

  1. Reclamación ante la aerolíneaClaim in writing, citing art. 47 Bis and the specific fracción, and keep the folio number. Ask the carrier to send you its published compensation policy — the statute requires it to have one and sets only a floor above it.Claim directtypically 10 days
  2. PROFECOThe Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor handles air passenger complaints and runs a conciliation procedure that can produce a binding settlement. It is free, and it is the most effective step for a Mexican domestic claim. PROFECO also publishes air passenger rights material that carriers are required to display.Regulatortypically 60 daysofficial page
  3. Agencia Federal de Aviación Civil (AFAC)AFAC supervises carriers’ compliance with the Ley de Aviación Civil and can sanction them. Like every aviation regulator in this product, it enforces the rules rather than paying you: use it to create a record and to drive enforcement, and PROFECO or the courts to recover money.Regulatortypically 90 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

Mexico — CONDUSEF conciliation under the Ley de Protección y Defensa al Usuario de Servicios FinancierosMXNational — MexicoLey de Protección y Defensa al Usuario de Servicios FinancierosConfidence: mediumMexico — Correos de MéxicoMXNational — MexicoLey del Servicio Postal MexicanoConfidence: lowMexico — Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los ParticularesMXNational — MexicoLey Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los ParticularesConfidence: mediumMexico — LFPC art. 56 revocation and PROFECO conciliationMXNational — MexicoLey Federal de Protección al Consumidor, art. 56Confidence: mediumMexico — rental deposit (Código Civil of the relevant State (for Mexico City, the Código Civil para el Distrito Federal, arts. 2398–2496, together with the Ley de Vivienda de la Ciudad de México))MXNational — MexicoCódigo Civil of the relevant State (for Mexico City, the Código Civil para el Distrito Federal, arts. 2398–2496, together with the Ley de Vivienda de la Ciudad de México)Confidence: lowMexico — total price display under the Federal Consumer Protection LawMXNational — MexicoLey Federal de Protección al Consumidor, arts. 7 bis and 10Confidence: 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.