Passenger rights

Dear passengers,

We would like to take this opportunity to acquaint you with your passenger rights in accordance with the Bosnia and Herzegovina Civil Aviation Contract Law (Official Gazette of BIH 51/15) (hereinafter: the Law). The law transposes the provisions of the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air (i.e. the Montreal Convention of 1999), Regulation (EC) 261/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, and Regulation (EC) 1107/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility.

You, as a passenger

a) departing from an airport located in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina,

b) departing from an airport located in a third country to an airport situated in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, unless you received benefits or compensation and were given assistance in that third country, provided that the operating air carrier of the flight concerned is an air carrier of a signatory of the Multilateral Agreement on the Establishment of a Common European Aviation Area - ECAA (all EU Member States and the neighbouring countries of Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo),

are entitled to compensation in case of

1. Damage to baggage (Article 21)

2. Long delay (Articles 23 and 31)

3. Flight cancellation (Article 30)

4. Denied boarding (Article 29)

5. Downgrading (Article 35)

6. Violations of the rights of passengers - disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility (Article 63).

Procedure to be conducted by the BHDCA upon receipt of a passenger complaint

In case of violation of the passenger rights for which a passenger is entitled to compensation, the passenger affected may appeal, in accordance with Article 40 of the Law, to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation (BHDCA) as the competent authority to deal with complaints of air passengers whose rights are endangered on the basis of this law.

Any passenger travelling from an airport located in Bosnia and Herzegovina to ECAA area airports and vice versa, and any passenger travelling from an airport located in Bosnia and Herzegovina to airports situated in third countries and vice versa, may file a complaint to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation for violation of their rights under this law.

After receipt of a complaint, the BHDCA shall take the following steps:

- review the complaint, and if the complaint is founded,

- request the air carrier or its authorised agent to act upon the passenger’s complaint, and

- if the air carrier or its authorised agent have submitted to the BHDCA a complaint response rebutting the complaint,

- review the complaint response, and

- if necessary, use its inspectors to determine the factual situation, and/or

- perform inspection or, if that may not be possible (for various reasons), instruct the passenger to file a lawsuit against the air carrier or its authorised agent.

Passengers – disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility

In addition to the right to compensation, passengers – disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility are entitled to:

1. assistance at airports (Article 58) and

2. assistance by air carriers (Article 61).

BHDCA questionnaire on the treatment of passengers with reduced mobility (PRM) at the international airports in Bosnia and Herzegovina (when you answer the questionnaire, send it to the e-mail address: bhdca@bhdca.gov.ba or by mail to the BHDCA address)

Procedure to be conducted by the BHDCA upon receipt of a passenger complaint by a disabled person or person with reduced mobility

The Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation is the competent authority for the oversight of the implementation of this law on passenger rights for disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility.

The BHDCA shall take the necessary measures, as appropriate, to ensure compliance with passenger rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility, including compliance with the standards set out by the Law.

A disabled passenger or a person with reduced mobility who believes that an air carrier or its agent or an airport managing body acted contrary to the provisions of this law referring to disabled persons or persons with reduced mobility, shall contact them with a complaint requesting that the rights of disabled passengers or passengers with reduced mobility be respected as prescribed by this law.

If the air carrier or its agent or the airport managing body fail to act upon the passenger’s complaint and request, the passenger may lodge a complaint with the BHDCA regarding the alleged infringement.

Where a body of another country is responsible to act upon the complaint, the BHDCA shall forward the complaint to this body for further action.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina Directorate of Civil Aviation shall ensure that disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility are informed of their rights pursuant to this law and of the possibility to lodge a complaint with the BHDCA.

HERE you can download the Passenger Complaint Form.