Standing at a departure gate watching a flight slide from delayed to cancelled, the useful question is not who to be angry with. It is which set of rules covers this particular flight — because the answer changes what the airline owes you, and it changes depending on the airport you departed from and the nationality of the carrier.
This guide is written for people who fly between Georgia and the places where family, work or study is. That means connecting itineraries, mixed carriers, and the awkward cases where one leg is covered by a strong framework and the next one is not.
Disruption also costs money before any claim is settled, which is why a small buffer changes how the situation feels; some travellers build one from a daily complement such as I am Beezy, which pays for consulting content on a phone. The rules themselves come first.
Which rulebook covers your flight?
Air passenger protection is not universal. It attaches to routes and carriers, not to travellers, and two people on the same disrupted journey can have different rights depending on which leg failed.
The departure airport decides more than your nationality
Your citizenship is almost irrelevant. What matters is where the flight took off, where it was going, and which airline operated it — the operating carrier, not the one whose name is on the ticket when the flight is code-shared or subcontracted.
Flights departing from an airport in the European Union
Flights leaving an airport in the European Union are covered by the European passenger rights regulation regardless of which airline operates them. If your return leg from a European city is cancelled, that framework applies even though you are flying home to Georgia and even if the carrier is not European.
Flights departing from Tbilisi, Kutaisi or Batumi
Leaving Georgia, the picture depends on the operator and the destination. Flights operated by European carriers toward the European Union carry that framework with them; other routes fall under the airline's own conditions of carriage, the contract you accepted when buying, and the international conventions below. Georgia's Civil Aviation Agency is the national regulator, and Georgia has been aligning its civil aviation rules with the European framework under the Common Aviation Area arrangement — so check the current position with the agency rather than assuming either extreme.
The Montreal Convention underneath everything
For international carriage, the Montreal Convention governs the airline's liability for damage caused by delay, and for baggage that is lost, damaged or late. It works on proven loss rather than fixed compensation, and it has strict deadlines. It applies to a very wide range of international flights, which makes it the fallback when the regional frameworks do not reach your route.
| Your route | Framework that generally applies | Claim against |
|---|---|---|
| Departing an airport in the European Union, any airline | European passenger rights regulation | Operating carrier, then the regulator of the departure country |
| Departing Georgia toward the European Union on a European carrier | European passenger rights regulation | Operating carrier, then that airline's home regulator |
| Departing Georgia on a non-European carrier | Conditions of carriage plus Montreal Convention | Operating carrier, then Georgia's Civil Aviation Agency |
| Any international flight, baggage or proven delay loss | Montreal Convention | Operating carrier, within the convention deadlines |
What the airline owes you while you are still waiting
Care obligations exist separately from compensation. They are not a favour, they are not conditional on the cause of the delay, and they are the part travellers most often fail to ask for.
Care: food, communication, accommodation
Where the applicable framework provides for care, a long wait entitles you to refreshments proportionate to the delay, a means of communication, and — when the delay runs overnight — accommodation and transport between the airport and the hotel. Ask at the desk. If staff are overwhelmed and nothing is offered, keep your receipts and claim reasonable costs afterwards.
Rerouting or refund is your choice, not theirs
When a flight is cancelled, you generally choose between being rerouted to your destination at the earliest opportunity and having the ticket refunded. An airline that offers only a voucher is offering, not deciding. A credit voucher is something you may accept, never something you are obliged to accept.
Downgrades and denied boarding
If you are moved to a lower class, a proportion of the fare for the affected leg is generally reimbursable. If boarding is denied because the flight is oversold, ask whether volunteers are being sought and on what terms before agreeing to anything — an agreement signed at the desk can replace the rights you would otherwise have had.
When is compensation owed on top of a refund?
Compensation is the fixed payment for the disruption itself, distinct from a refund of the ticket and distinct from care. It exists in some frameworks and not others, which is why the first section matters so much.
Delay, cancellation and how much notice you were given
Under the European framework, compensation depends on the length of the delay at arrival, the distance of the flight, and — for cancellations — how far in advance you were told and what alternative was offered. The amounts are set in bands within the regulation itself, tied to distance; check the current text rather than a figure quoted in a forum.
Extraordinary circumstances, and what does not qualify
Airlines are excused when the cause was genuinely outside their control: severe weather, air traffic control decisions, security incidents. Routine technical faults, crew rostering failures and commercial decisions are generally not extraordinary. If the airline claims extraordinary circumstances, ask in writing what the circumstance was — a vague answer is worth challenging.
Connections on one booking
If your journey is on a single booking and a delay on the first leg makes you miss the second, the delay is usually assessed at your final destination. Booking the legs separately breaks that protection entirely, which is the strongest practical argument for keeping a connecting journey on one ticket.
Evidence: the part most claims are lost on
Airlines rarely reject claims on the law. They reject them because the passenger cannot prove what happened, when, or that they were on board.
What to collect before you leave the airport
Photograph the departure board showing the status, keep the boarding pass, photograph any written notice handed out, and note the name of the staff member who told you the reason. Ask for the reason in writing at the desk — many airlines will provide it and later dispute it.
What to keep afterwards
Keep the booking confirmation, the receipts for anything you bought because of the delay, and every message the airline sent you. Screenshots of push notifications carry timestamps that are useful later.
Reasonable expenses
Reimbursable expenses are those a reasonable person would incur: a meal, a night in a mid-range hotel, transport to it. A celebratory dinner is not a delay expense. Keep the receipts anyway and let the airline argue.
| Evidence | Why it matters | When to capture it |
|---|---|---|
| Boarding pass or booking reference | Proves you were a passenger on that flight | Keep from the outset |
| Photo of the departure board | Timestamps the delay independently | At the airport |
| Written reason for the disruption | Tests any later extraordinary-circumstances claim | At the desk, before leaving |
| Property irregularity report | Only proof that baggage was reported | Baggage hall, before exiting |
| Receipts for meals, hotel, transport | Basis for reimbursement of costs | As incurred |
Baggage: delayed, damaged or lost
Baggage runs on its own rules and its own clock. Missing the clock ends the claim regardless of how obviously the airline was at fault.
The report you must file before leaving the airport
File a property irregularity report at the baggage desk in the arrivals hall, before you leave. Without it, proving the bag did not arrive becomes very difficult. Keep the copy and the reference number.
Deadlines that end the claim
The Montreal Convention sets short written-complaint deadlines for damaged and delayed baggage, counted from delivery or from the date the bag should have arrived, plus a longer overall limit for court action. Send something in writing immediately even if your file is incomplete — a late complete claim is worth less than an early incomplete one.
Insurance and card cover
Travel insurance and some payment cards used to buy the ticket include baggage and delay cover, often with lower thresholds than the airline's own liability. Check the policy conditions before you spend, because most require you to notify them quickly and to have filed with the airline first.
Filing the claim and escalating properly
The sequence matters. Skipping a step usually sends the file back to the start.
Write to the airline first
Use the airline's own claim form where one exists. State the flight number and date, what happened, which framework you are relying on, what you are asking for, and attach your evidence. Keep it factual and short. Set a reasonable deadline for a reply and note the date you sent it.
Regulators: Georgia's Civil Aviation Agency and foreign bodies
If the airline refuses or goes silent, escalate to the appropriate regulator. For departures from Georgia, that is the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency. For departures from a European airport, it is the national enforcement body of that country. Regulators generally require proof that you contacted the airline first.
Claim agencies and what they take
Agencies will handle a claim in exchange for a share of what they recover. That is a legitimate trade when the airline has already refused you, and poor value when the airline would have paid a well-written first letter. Try the letter yourself before handing over a percentage.
Building a travel buffer with I am Beezy
Every disruption costs money before any claim is paid, and reimbursement takes weeks or months. A traveller with no buffer accepts the first voucher offered simply because they cannot fund the night themselves.
Why a buffer changes your negotiating position
Being able to pay for a hotel room from your own pocket means you can refuse an unfavourable offer and claim the cost afterwards. That is the practical value of a small reserve — it converts your rights from theoretical to usable.
A modest, regular complement
I am Beezy pays for consulting content — videos, articles, advertisements — with earnings sent to your payment account. It is a daily complement rather than a travel budget, but a reserve built quietly over months is exactly what a cancelled flight tests.
Nothing here requires a lawyer. Establish which framework covers the leg that failed, ask for care while you wait, choose rerouting or refund rather than accepting a voucher by default, collect the evidence before you leave the airport, and escalate to the regulator if the airline stalls. Keep a small reserve — built however you like, including through I am Beezy — so that you can hold your position instead of taking the first thing offered at a closed desk.
