Ukraine — Air Code of Ukraine, Arts. 103–107 (passenger compensation)

The clocks it starts

• Two years for a Montreal Convention claim (Art. 35)This bars the Convention claim for proven delay damages on international carriage. It does not bar the statutory compensation, which runs on the national limitation period instead — but the two are usually claimed in the same letter, so treat the shorter one as the deadline that matters.Montreal Convention 1999, Art. 35(1) — Art. 35(1)Limitation period
• Limitation period under national law (3 years)Ukraine applies a general limitation period of three years to civil claims under Art. 257 of the Civil Code, and the Air Code sets no shorter period for the compensation limbs. Verify it before relying on the third year — martial-law suspensions have affected Ukrainian limitation periods and the position has moved more than once.Цивільний кодекс України, ст. 257 (загальна позовна давність) — ст. 257Limitation period

What it entitles you to, beyond money

• Meals, communications and a hotel while you waitThe duty of care is the part of this family of regimes that bites hardest in practice and is most often ignored: meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the waiting time, two telephone calls or emails, and hotel accommodation with transfers where an overnight stay becomes necessary. It applies from two hours on a short flight, three in the middle band and four on a long one, and it applies whatever caused the disruption — including weather, which carriers use to refuse everything. Keep every receipt; unprovided care is recoverable.ст. 106
• At five hours, you may abandon the journey and take your money backThis right is express rather than argued, and almost nobody uses it. Once the delay reaches five hours you may decline to travel at all and require reimbursement of the full ticket price for the parts of the journey not made, together with the parts already made if the flight no longer serves any purpose in relation to your original travel plan — plus, where relevant, a flight back to your first point of departure at the earliest opportunity.ст. 106
• 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)

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.

Where to take it next

1. 01Written claim to the airlineWrite to the carrier naming the Air Code of Ukraine (Повітряний кодекс України), Arts. 104 and 105 and Art. 7(1) of Regulation 261/2004, the flight number and date, the distance band and the figure. Ask for payment by bank transfer within 14 days and say you will complain to the regulator if it is not made.Claim direct·typically 30 days
2. 02State Aviation Service of Ukraine (Державіаслужба)The State Aviation Service supervises carriers' compliance with the Air Code and the Aviation Rules. It enforces against the carrier rather than paying you, but a documented complaint is what a Ukrainian court will want to see you have made, and it costs nothing.Regulator·typically 90 days·official page
3. 03Civil court claimBinding on themA claim under Arts. 104 and 105 is an ordinary civil claim. Ukrainian consumer legislation exempts consumers from court fees in claims arising from the protection of consumer rights, which makes this route materially cheaper than it looks. The claim is in euro because the Air Code states it in euro.Small claims·typically 180 days