Air Cargo Carrier Liability under the Montreal Convention

Air cargo often involves valuable or time-sensitive goods. If a shipment is lost, damaged or delayed, the invoice value alone does not determine what can be recovered from the carrier. The 1999 Montreal Convention establishes an important framework for qualifying international carriage by air.

This guide examines the carriage document, the parties’ responsibilities, the applicable cargo limit, notice and action periods, domestic carriage and practical evidence management. Whether the Convention applies must be established from the agreed itinerary and its scope, not merely from the fact that an aircraft was used.

1. Applicable law

The Montreal Convention governs international carriage meeting Article 1. Türkiye approved ratification through Law No. 5866, and the Convention entered into force for Türkiye on 26 March 2011. The relevant States, agreed departure/destination and any agreed stopping place must be checked.

For domestic carriage, Turkish Civil Aviation Law No. 2920 and its references to international rules require a separate analysis. It is not sufficient to apply every Montreal rule to a wholly domestic shipment without examining the domestic provisions. The transport leg and the period of custody are also important when road or warehouse services accompany the flight.

Ground-handling and cargo-agency authorisations are governed separately, including by SHY-22. Customs, aviation security and dangerous-goods requirements form additional layers. They do not replace the civil-liability rules governing a cargo claim.

2. Documents and parties

Air waybill or electronic record: Articles 4–9 provide for an air waybill or another means preserving a record of the carriage. The absence or irregularity of the document does not, by itself, invalidate the carriage contract or remove the Convention’s liability rules. Preserve the complete document, conditions of carriage and electronic tracking records.

Consignor: The shipper is responsible for the particulars and statements supplied about the cargo. Accurate contents, weight, routing and customs information matter. A commercial invoice value is not automatically a special declaration of interest under Article 22(3).

Consignee: The person entitled to delivery should inspect the cargo and comply with the relevant complaint requirements. If the carrier admits loss, or the cargo has not arrived seven days after it should have arrived, Article 13(3) permits enforcement of the rights flowing from the carriage contract.

Contracting and actual carriers: Where one carrier contracts and another performs the carriage with its authority, Articles 39–48 allocate responsibility. The contracting carrier’s and actual carrier’s positions are not identical. Successive carriage is separately addressed in Article 36 and can involve claims against the first, last or incident-stage carrier under its conditions.

Forwarder: A freight forwarder’s legal role must be established from the actual undertaking and documents. A party acting as a forwarding agent, a contracting carrier and an actual carrier should not be treated as the same role merely because each participates in the logistics chain. The relevant Turkish Commercial Code provisions may also be engaged.

3. Liability, defences and limits

For destruction, loss or damage to cargo, Article 18 connects liability to the damaging event occurring during carriage by air, including the relevant period in the carrier’s charge. The Convention contains specific rules for accompanying surface transport and unauthorised substitution of another mode.

The carrier may be exonerated to the extent it proves the relevant damage resulted from inherent defect or the nature of the goods, defective packing by someone other than the carrier or its servants/agents, war or armed conflict, or an act of public authority connected with entry, exit or transit. These are evidential defences, not a blanket exemption whenever goods are fragile or pass through customs.

For delay, Article 19 provides a defence based on taking all reasonably required measures to avoid the damage or the impossibility of doing so. Under Article 20, the claimant’s contributory wrongdoing may reduce or exclude liability to the relevant extent.

The consignor can make a special declaration of interest in delivery at destination when handing the package over and pay a supplementary sum where required. The declared sum is subject to the Convention’s qualification concerning actual interest. Article 25 also permits a carrier to agree a higher limit or no limit. These possibilities should be considered before shipment.

Where only part of a consignment is affected, Article 22(4) generally uses the weight of the package or packages concerned. Other packages may count where the event affects their value under the same carriage document or preserved record. The full shipment’s weight should not automatically be used.

For example, if the relevant weight is 1,000 kg, the ordinary 26 SDR/kg ceiling is 26,000 SDR. This is a ceiling, not an automatic compensation award; proven recoverable loss, applicable defences and any valid higher-limit arrangement still matter. Under Article 23, judicial conversion to national currency uses the SDR value at the date of judgment. SDR is an IMF unit of account, not a fixed euro or dollar amount.

Article 26 invalidates provisions tending to relieve the carrier of Convention liability or impose a lower limit. Mandatory Convention conditions must also be respected when the claim is framed in contract or tort.

4. Notices, jurisdiction and time limits

• Cargo damage: Complain in writing immediately after discovery and no later than 14 days from receipt under Article 31.
• Delay: The written complaint must be made no later than 21 days after the cargo is placed at the entitled person’s disposal.
• Form and proof: Preserve the complaint, its contents and evidence of timely dispatch or delivery. Receipt without complaint creates an evidential presumption; a missing timely complaint can prevent an action, subject to the Convention’s fraud exception.
• Loss: The seven-day rule in Article 13(3) concerns enforcing contractual rights when cargo does not arrive; it is not a general replacement for every complaint or litigation period.
• Action: Article 35 extinguishes the right to damages if an action is not brought within two years from arrival, when the aircraft ought to have arrived, or when carriage stopped. The forum’s law determines the method of calculating the period.

For cargo, Article 33 identifies the carrier’s domicile, principal place of business, the place of business through which the contract was made, or the destination as the relevant jurisdictional options in a State Party. It does not give every cargo claimant the additional residence-based forum available for certain passenger death/injury claims. Cargo arbitration requires a written agreement and compliance with Article 34.

In Türkiye, a monetary cargo claim classified as a commercial dispute may be subject to mandatory mediation under Commercial Code Article 5/A. Its interaction with the Convention’s extinguishing period must be assessed specifically. Do not assume that negotiation, an insurer’s investigation or a mediation application necessarily preserves the two-year claim in every forum. Plan the procedural steps before the period expires.

5. Insurance and operational risk

Insurance: For high-value cargo, compare the ordinary carrier ceiling with the goods’ value. Consider appropriate cargo insurance and the special-declaration/higher-limit options. “All risks” is a policy description with terms and exclusions, not a promise that every loss will be paid.

Packing and declarations: Select packing appropriate to the goods and route, and keep evidence of compliance. Record the contents, weights and agreed handling conditions. Dangerous goods require their own declarations, documents and trained personnel under the applicable rules.

Custody transfers: At warehouse, ramp and aircraft handovers, record times, condition and the responsible parties. SHY-22 imposes responsibilities at the relevant cargo-handling interface; the carrier/handler agreement should address handover evidence, incident reports, insurance and recourse. Verify cargo-agency and ground-handling authorisations.

When damage or delay is discovered

1. Inspect packages and record reservations on the delivery document where appropriate.
2. Photograph the goods, packaging, labels and any visible damage. Preserve the original packing and tracking data.
3. Send the written carrier complaint within the applicable period and retain proof.
4. Consider a survey or formal preservation of evidence where necessary.
5. Assemble the air waybill, invoice, packing list, insurance policy, survey and handover records.
6. Calendar the complaint and action periods separately; coordinate any mediation or litigation in time.

6. Sources

• Montreal Convention 1999: particularly Articles 1, 4–10, 13, 18–26, 29–31, 33–36 and 39–48. The authentic Convention text is reproduced in Canada’s official Carriage by Air Act, Schedule VI; the original printed monetary amounts must be read with subsequent ICAO revisions.
• ICAO status and revised-limit information: Türkiye’s entry into force and the 26 SDR cargo limit effective 28 December 2024.
• Turkish Civil Aviation Law No. 2920; Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, including Article 5/A and the forwarding provisions.
• SHGM legislation: SHY-22, cargo/agency authorisation and relevant dangerous-goods requirements.