Lost or delayed baggage on UAE flights

A lost or delayed bag gives you two separate claims. One is against the airline, under its conditions of carriage and, on international flights, the Montreal Convention. The other is under your travel policy or card terms. Each has its own deadline and asks for its own proof.

What should you do at the airport?

Tell the airline before you leave the baggage area, and ask for a Property Irregularity Report (PIR). Under the Etihad, flydubai and Emirates conditions, accepting a bag without complaint counts as evidence that it was delivered in good condition, unless you prove otherwise.¹ Air Arabia treats leaving the delivery area the same way.²

Air Arabia also says it cannot receive a claim without the baggage check-in tag, and treats a claim without one as a courtesy claim with no liability.²

Keep your baggage tag and boarding pass until the claim is settled.

How long do you have to tell the airline in writing?

7 days for a lost or damaged bag and 21 days for a delayed one, in the conditions of all four UAE airlines. Notice must be in writing.

Etihad, flydubai and Air Arabia also ask you to tell them as soon as you find the damage.³⁴² The 2-year limit for court action runs from arrival at the destination, the scheduled arrival date or the date the journey stopped. Etihad counts calendar days, and accepts delayed baggage claims online.³

Send your written notice inside the deadline and keep a copy.

How much can the airline pay you?

Up to 1,519 SDR per passenger for a lost, damaged or delayed bag, for loss you can prove. ICAO raised the limit from 1,288 SDR on 28 December 2024.⁵ It is a ceiling, not a fixed payment. SDR values move, so no AED figure is given.

Air Arabia’s conditions print 1,288 SDR, and their date is unclear. If you fly Air Arabia, ask it which limit it applies.

A limit above the Montreal figure can be agreed. Etihad offers a special declaration of value at check-in for an extra charge, and refuses one when another airline operates a segment.³ Where several airlines carried the bag, Etihad’s conditions let you claim against the first or last airline, or the one on whose flight the damage happened.³

What proof does the airline ask for?

An itemised list of what was in the bag, with each item’s description, maker and age, and proof of purchase or ownership. Etihad and flydubai both ask for this.⁴³

• Etihad does not need proof of purchase for items that cost less than USD 50, or that are more than 5 years old and claimed at less than USD 50.³
• Keep a damaged bag so the airline can inspect it.
• Ask the airline before you buy replacements, or the cost may not be included. Etihad needs its written agreement unless the total is USD 50 or less.
• Etihad may ask for baggage tags, boarding pass, passport, a list of the contents and receipts.
• If you do not follow these terms, the airline may pay less.

Make the list of contents while you still remember them.

What does your travel insurance pay?

Most delay benefits pay for essentials you buy while you wait for a delayed bag. These are insurance benefits, not rights against the airline. Most delay benefits apply on the outward journey or away from home, so check your policy before you claim for a bag delayed on the way back to the UAE.

• Mastercard World cards MENA (card benefit). USD 300 if a checked bag is delayed or misdirected for more than 4 hours, but not in your city of permanent residence. Lost baggage up to USD 3,000, USD 625 for a single item, with a combined 10% limit for items such as jewellery, cameras and electronics. The airline must verify the claim. Notice within 90 days of the loss.⁶
• Liva. Essentials after a delay of more than 6 hours on the outward international journey. Journeys only within the UAE are excluded. A loss not reported to the airline within 24 hours of discovery is excluded.⁷
• Orient Easy Journey Outbound. Essentials on the outward journey after more than 3 hours from arrival. Valuables are outside the delay section. Send the receipts. Get a PIR within 7 days, and write to the airline within 21 days confirming the essentials you bought.⁸
• AIG Travel Guard. Emergency clothing, medication and toiletries when the delay passes the excess at a destination outside your country of residence, bought within 4 days of arrival. You need a written airline report and original receipts. A baggage loss needs a PIR.⁹
• Allianz Partners UAE, underwritten by Alliance Insurance PSC. Essentials after a delay of at least 4 hours. Get a PIR within 7 days, and write to the airline within 21 days confirming the essentials you bought.¹⁰
• Salama. Essentials after a delay of more than 4 hours from the arrival of a flight on an IATA member airline, against original invoices and documents certified by the airline. A bag counts as lost after the period the airline sets, and not less than 21 days. Money, jewellery, cards and documents are excluded.¹¹
• GIG Gulf Travel Smart. Emergency clothing, medication and toiletries if a bag is temporarily lost on the outward journey and not returned within 4 hours, with written confirmation from the airline. Get a PIR and give the airline formal written notice within its time limit.¹² The product page says a delay of at least 12 hours from arrival.¹³
• Daman Alami. Checked bags delayed or lost on flights back to where you live are excluded, as is failing to tell the airline at once and get a PIR. A single-item limit applies, and a pair or set counts as one item. Amounts are in the policy schedule.¹⁴

If a delayed bag turns out to be lost, the Mastercard, AIG, Liva, Orient, GIG Gulf and Daman terms take the delay payment off the loss payment. Mastercard and AIG pay only above what the airline or other insurance has paid. Daman excludes a loss the airline or another responsible party has reimbursed.

Play: How to Get Paid for Lost or Late LuggageNothing loads from YouTube until you click. Plays through youtube-nocookie.com.

Keep every receipt. The documents each policy asks for are in the claim document checklist.

The small print

• The deadlines in Table 1 are the airlines’ own statements, not the Convention’s text. The baggage articles are Arts 15 and 16 for Etihad, flydubai and Emirates, and Arts 18 and 19 for Air Arabia. Air Arabia’s rule on leaving the delivery area is Art 19.1.1 and its rule on the baggage tag Art 19.1.2. Etihad’s online delayed baggage claims are Art 16.1.3, the declaration of value Art 15.2.5, the claim against several airlines Arts 15.2.7 and 15.5.1 and proof of contents Art 15.4. flydubai’s proof of contents is Art 16.2.³⁴²
• The UAE has been a party to the Montreal Convention since 4 November 2003.¹⁵ ICAO invited States Parties to make domestic provision for the new limits.⁵