Know Your Rights as Air Passengers in the Philippines

Travelling in and out of the country is no longer a dream. In fact, it’s now so accessible that everyone can travel for a net price of P1, if you manage to book your flight before the tickets before the offer expires; however, some people still get duped by things like scrupulous deals and not being compensated enough for missed flights, missing baggage, or casualties in flight.

In line with this, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) issued Joint DOTC-DTI Administrative Order No. 01 last December 10, 2012, or more commonly known as the Air Passenger Bill of Rights.

The Air Passenger Bill of rights lists every right given to anyone who purchases an airline ticket. It has three major rights:

• Right to be provided with accurate information BEFORE PURCHASE

• Right to receive the FULL VALUE of the service purchased

• Right to COMPENSATION

Within the regulation are details of what passengers and airlines should expect once the passenger books a flight with an airline. To view the full regulation, visit the Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. You can download a handy PDF copy here. For those who aren’t too keen on reading a wall of text (or are familiar with law/formal terms), here’s a handy infographic courtesy of the Official Gazette:

 

 

Note: the relevant convention being referred to in the Air Passenger Bill of Rights is the Montreal Convention of 1999, which replaced the Warsaw Convention system.

 

Source: Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines