August 21, 2017 Russia to the Montreal Convention on International Air Transport. Under the agreement, the Russian law was brought into line with international practice. Corresponding amendments were signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2017, and now the updated law came into force.

According to the innovations, the responsibility of airlines for delaying flights has been increased. The maximum amount of payments under the Montreal Convention is set in (SDR or SDR – from the English. Special Drawing Rights) – 4150 units is about 350 thousand rubles. Earlier the passenger at best could expect 25 rubles per hour for the delay of the Russian aircraft, and the total amount of compensation could not be more than 50% of the ticket price).

Now travelers will be able to rely on more substantial amounts. However, for this they will have to prove that due to the fault of the carrier they had real losses in a specific amount: for example, to provide tickets for a missed event.

The maximum compensation for the destruction, damage or delay of luggage is now 1000 SDRs (up to 83 thousand rubles). in such cases the passenger was compensated, depending on whether he declared the value of luggage. Without the announcement of value it was possible to count on the amount of not more than 600 rubles per kilogram, while the cost of lost or spoiled things was estimated based on the average price for a similar product.

Another innovation was the possibility to file a suit against the airline at the place of residence of the passenger, and not at the place of registration of the carrier.

The updated law applies only to international, including charter flights, although the Ministry of Transport does not exclude that in the future the principle will be extended to domestic flights.