Lost or damaged luggage on a flight in Peru? Deadlines to complain and what the airline pays

Which rules apply to your flight

There are two regimes, and the deadlines depend on which one applies:

• Domestic flights: Ley 27261, Peru’s Civil Aviation Law (Ley de Aeronáutica Civil), and its regulation (D.S. 050-2001-MTC).
• International flights: in general, the Montreal Convention 1999. Peru is a party: it signed on 2 September 1999 and the Convention has been in force for Peru since 4 November 2003, according to ICAO’s official list.

The Convention’s exact scope depends on your ticket’s points of departure and destination. Under its article 1, carriage is international when those points «están situados, bien en el territorio de dos Estados Partes» (are located in the territory of two States Parties), or in a single one with an agreed stop in another State. What counts is «el punto de partida y el punto de destino» (the point of departure and the point of destination), whether or not there’s a break or transfer. Our reading is that on a single ticket Cusco – Lima – Madrid, the domestic leg can fall within the international carriage; the Convention doesn’t give that example. Check your whole ticket, not just the leg where the bag went missing.

The comparison in one table

The SDR (Special Drawing Right; «derecho especial de giro», DEG, in the Spanish texts) is an International Monetary Fund unit. Its value changes daily and is published by the IMF, so we don’t convert it to soles or dollars.

Domestic flights: what Ley 27261 says

Liability. Article 117.1: «El transportador es responsable de los daños y perjuicios en caso de destrucción, pérdida o avería de equipajes registrados y carga, cuando el hecho causante del daño se haya producido durante el transporte aéreo» (the carrier is liable for destruction, loss or damage of checked baggage and cargo when the cause occurred during air transport). That covers the time the bag is «bajo custodia del transportador» (in the carrier’s custody, art. 117.2). The regulation adds that it doesn’t extend to land or water transport outside an aerodrome, unless there’s a multimodal contract (art. 268).

Delay. Article 122: «El transportador es responsable de los daños resultantes del retraso en el transporte aéreo de pasajeros, equipajes o carga» (the carrier is liable for damage resulting from delay in the air transport of passengers, baggage or cargo).

Limits. The law leaves the amounts to the regulation, using Special Drawing Rights as the reference (art. 121.1). The regulation says, if you made no special declaration of value (art. 270):

• Destruction or loss of the checked bag: «una suma equivalente a 17 DEG por kilo de peso registrado» (a sum equal to 17 SDR per kilo of registered weight).
• Damage or delay of the checked bag: «hasta una suma equivalente a 17 DEG por kilo de peso registrado» (up to a sum equal to 17 SDR per kilo of registered weight).

Personal effects are what you keep with you in the cabin during the flight (art. 271). For loss or destruction, «una suma equivalente a 300 DEG» (a sum equal to 300 SDR); for damage, «hasta una suma equivalente a 300 DEG» (up to 300 SDR). For passenger delay (not baggage), article 269 sets a separate limit: 1000 SDR per passenger.

Declaration of value. The amount is the regulation’s «salvo declaración especial hecha por el expedidor o el pasajero al transportador en el momento de la remisión o entrega de los bultos y mediante el eventual pago de un precio adicional» (unless the passenger makes a special declaration to the carrier when handing over the bags, paying an extra charge where applicable). If you do, the airline pays the declared value unless it proves it was lower (art. 118.1).

Clauses that cut your rights. Article 118.3: «Toda cláusula que establezca límites o reduzca la responsabilidad del transportador dispuesta por la presente Ley y su reglamentación, en materia de equipaje, carga y efectos personales, es nula, pero la nulidad de tales cláusulas no acarrea la del contrato» (any clause that limits or reduces the carrier’s liability under this Law and its regulation for baggage, cargo and personal effects is void, but that does not void the contract).

Indecopi has already confirmed as abusive a terms-and-conditions clause that capped the loss of checked baggage at what the contracted insurance covers: we explain it in the unfair airline terms Indecopi has already sanctioned.

Your own negligence. Liability can be reduced or excluded if the airline proves your negligence caused or contributed to the damage (art. 123).

The protest: the deadline people miss

The claim is made with a written protesta (protest, art. 119). Article 120.1: «En caso de avería o pérdida parcial, el destinatario debe dirigir al transportador su protesta dentro de un plazo de 5 (cinco) días hábiles para los equipajes y de 10 (diez) días hábiles para la carga, contados desde la fecha de entrega» (for damage or partial loss, the protest must reach the carrier within 5 business days for baggage and 10 for cargo, counted from delivery). For total loss and delay, the period is the same and only the starting point changes (see the table).

For personal effects you had in the cabin, the protest for loss or destruction must be made within «cinco (5) días hábiles desde la fecha de arribo del pasajero al aeródromo de destino» (five business days from the passenger’s arrival at the destination aerodrome), and the airline must tell passengers the procedure and deadline (arts. 272 and 273 of the regulation).

If you don’t protest, article 119.4 is harsh: «La falta de protesta en los plazos previstos en el presente Capítulo hace improcedente toda acción administrativa o judicial contra el transportador, salvo el caso de fraude» (failing to protest within these deadlines makes any administrative or court action against the carrier inadmissible, except for fraud). And if you take the bag without protest, it’s presumed to have arrived in good condition, unless proven otherwise (art. 119.3).

International flights: what the Montreal Convention says

Liability. Article 17.2: «El transportista es responsable del daño causado en caso de destrucción, pérdida o avería del equipaje facturado» (the carrier is liable for destruction, loss or damage of checked baggage) when the event happened on board or while the bag was in its custody. It isn’t liable if the damage comes from the nature or an inherent defect of the baggage. For unchecked (cabin) baggage, it’s liable if the airline or its agents were at fault.

When it counts as lost. You can enforce your rights as for a loss if the airline admits it, or if the bag hasn’t arrived «a la expiración de los veintiún días siguientes a la fecha en que debería haber llegado» (at the end of 21 days after the date it should have arrived, art. 17.3).

Delay. Article 19: «El transportista es responsable del daño ocasionado por retrasos en el transporte aéreo de pasajeros, equipaje o carga» (the carrier is liable for damage caused by delay in the air carriage of passengers, baggage or cargo). It isn’t liable if it proves it took all reasonably necessary measures to avoid the damage, or that it was impossible to take them.

Limit. Article 22.2 limits liability for destruction, loss, damage or delay of baggage per passenger. ICAO revised that limit: since 28 December 2024 it is «1.519 derechos especiales de giro por pasajero» (1,519 SDR per passenger) for all States Parties. It’s per passenger, not per bag. If, when handing over the bag, you made «una declaración especial del valor de la entrega de éste en el lugar de destino» (a special declaration of its value at destination) and paid any supplementary sum, the airline pays up to that sum unless it proves it exceeded the real value at destination.

The protest. Article 31.2 sets the deadlines. For damage: «a más tardar, dentro de un plazo de siete días para el equipaje facturado y de catorce días para la carga» (at the latest within seven days for checked baggage and fourteen for cargo), from when you received it. For delay: «En caso de retraso, la protesta deberá hacerla a más tardar dentro de veintiún días» (in case of delay, the protest must be made at the latest within twenty-one days), from when the bag was placed at your disposal. Article 31.3: «Toda protesta deberá hacerse por escrito y darse o expedirse dentro de los plazos mencionados» (every protest must be in writing and given or sent within those deadlines). And 31.4: «A falta de protesta dentro de los plazos establecidos, todas las acciones contra el transportista serán inadmisibles» (without a protest within the deadlines, all actions against the carrier are inadmissible), except in case of fraud on its part.

Article 31 mentions no protest deadline for total loss. Our reading is that it’s wise to protest in writing anyway, as soon as you can, and in any case within the 21 days.

Deadline to sue. «El derecho a indemnización se extinguirá si no se inicia una acción dentro del plazo de dos años» (the right to damages is extinguished if no action is brought within two years, art. 35.1), counted from arrival at destination, from the day the aircraft should have arrived, or from when the carriage stopped.

What Indecopi recommends

In a note of 11 July 2026, Indecopi, Peru’s consumer authority, said that «las aerolíneas son responsables por la pérdida, robo, daños o deterioro del equipaje de los pasajeros» (airlines are responsible for loss, theft, damage or deterioration of passengers’ baggage), and that a complaints-book claim «debe ser atendido en un plazo máximo de 15 días hábiles» (must be answered within at most 15 business days). It recommends:

• «exigir el ticket de registro al enviarlo a bodega» (ask for the check-in receipt when the bag goes into the hold);
• «tomar una foto previa del equipaje para acreditar su estado» (photograph the bag beforehand to prove its condition);
• «en caso de transportar objetos de valor, informarlo con anticipación a la aerolínea» (if you carry valuables, tell the airline in advance).

The airport report isn’t always the protest

At the baggage desk you’ll get a report or record with a case number. It’s useful, but neither set of rules names it. What Ley 27261 and the Montreal Convention require is a written protest within the deadline. Our reading is that the safe move is to also send your own written protest (email, the airline’s form or the Libro de Reclamaciones) and keep proof of the date you sent it. To work out the date by which you must protest for your type of flight, use the lost luggage deadlines and limits tool.

Claims in Peru are filed in Spanish. A text you can use:

Vuelo [número] del [fecha], [origen]-[destino]. Etiqueta de equipaje [número]. Reporte de la aerolínea [número de caso, si lo hay].

Presento protesta por [pérdida / daño / retraso] de mi equipaje facturado: [describe qué pasó y qué daño tiene la maleta o qué contenía].

Adjunto: etiqueta de equipaje, tarjeta de embarque, fotos y comprobantes.

Solicito la indemnización que corresponde según [la Ley 27261 y su reglamento / el Convenio de Montreal de 1999].

If the airline doesn’t answer within 15 business days, details are in how long they have to answer. If you need to know which body to go to at the airport itself, see where to complain at a Peruvian airport.