Mexico passenger rights: a guide for UK travellers

If a flight to, from, or within Mexico is delayed, cancelled or overbooked, Mexico's Ley de Aviación Civil (Civil Aviation Law) sets out what the airline owes you, with compensation tied to the price you paid for your ticket. AirHelp doesn't handle claims under Mexican law, but if your journey began at a UK airport, or your flight was operated by a UK or EU carrier, a stronger set of rules such as UK 261 may apply instead. It's free to check.

The Ley de Aviación Civil is Mexico's federal aviation law, and it sets out your rights whenever a flight to, from, or within Mexico goes wrong. It applies to every flight on those routes, whether you're travelling with a Mexican airline such as Aeroméxico, Volaris or Viva Aerobus, or with a foreign carrier touching down at or departing from a Mexican airport. Enforcement sits with PROFECO, Mexico's federal consumer protection agency, which steps in when a carrier fails to comply.

The way it works will feel unfamiliar to anyone used to UK 261. Under British law, compensation is a fixed figure set by distance: £220, £350, or up to £520, whatever you paid for the ticket. Mexican law takes the opposite route and ties the payout to your fare. For a qualifying disruption you're entitled to at least 25% of the ticket price, on top of a refund or rerouting. Because it's a percentage, the sum rises and falls with the fare, so two passengers on the same flight can end up with very different amounts.

Under the Ley de Aviación Civil, compensation becomes due when a flight is substantially delayed, cancelled or overbooked, provided the disruption is the airline's fault. As the amount is a percentage of your fare, the table below sets out what you're entitled to rather than fixed figures.

Once you've filed, the airline has 10 days to pay the 25%. Food, drinks and any accommodation are due during the disruption itself, while you wait.

These rights apply on any flight Mexican law governs, from a domestic hop between Mexico City and Cancún to a return leg home on a Mexican carrier.

Delays

How much the airline owes you rises with the length of the delay.

• A delay of 1 to 2 hours entitles you, as a minimum, to food and drinks, a voucher towards a future flight on the same route, or a mix of the two, depending on the carrier's published policy.

• Between 2 and 4 hours, the same applies, but any voucher must be worth at least 7.5% of your ticket price.

• Once a delay passes 4 hours, you're treated as you would be for a cancellation (below): a refund, rerouting on the next available flight, or rescheduling for a later date, with the 25% payable if you take the refund or the reschedule.

Throughout any delay, the airline must also give you free access to phone calls and emails while you wait.

Cancellations and denied boarding (overbooking)

If the airline cancels for a reason within its control, or denies you boarding because the flight was oversold, you choose between three options:

• a refund, plus at least 25% of the ticket price in cash

• rerouting on the next available flight, with meals, a hotel for any overnight wait, and transport to and from the airport

• rebooking for a later date that suits you, plus the same 25% in cash

Overbooking adds one step. Before anyone is involuntarily denied boarding, the airline must first call for volunteers willing to give up a seat in exchange for benefits. Only when too few come forward does involuntary denied boarding apply, and in that case the 25% is due on all three options, rerouting included.

When the airline isn't liable

If a disruption is caused by an extraordinary circumstance beyond the airline's control, the carrier owes you nothing: not the compensation, and not the care either. Severe weather, political unrest, security threats and air traffic control restrictions are the usual examples.

This is one place where Mexican law parts company with UK 261. Under UK and EU rules, extraordinary circumstances remove your right to compensation but leave the duty of care intact, so the airline must still feed you and, if needed, put you up overnight. Mexican law draws no such line: when the cause is outside the airline's hands, both the payout and the care fall away.

A claim under the Ley de Aviación Civil runs through three stages. You generally have one year to lodge a complaint, a deadline set by article 14 of Mexico's Federal Consumer Protection Law.

1. Go to the airline first. Most carriers take complaints through an online form, and some at airport desks too. Set out your booking details and what went wrong, attach receipts for any extra costs you covered, and keep a record of everything: emails, reference numbers, screenshots.

2. Escalate to PROFECO. If the airline goes quiet or refuses to pay, Mexico's consumer protection agency is the next port of call. PROFECO runs free online conciliation through two platforms, Concilianet and Conciliaexprés, which between them cover most of the larger airlines operating in Mexico. If yours is on neither, you can file in person at an ODECO (PROFECO's local office), or get in touch through the consumer helpline.

3. Go to court if conciliation fails. Where PROFECO conciliation doesn't settle the dispute, you may still have options, including taking the matter to a Mexican civil court.

Worth having ready: your e-ticket or boarding pass, proof of the disruption (airline emails or screenshots usually suffice), and receipts for any out-of-pocket spending.

Could AirHelp help under another law?

AirHelp doesn't handle claims under the Ley de Aviación Civil; for those, PROFECO is the route to take. Two things are worth knowing, though. If your bags were lost, damaged or delayed on an international flight, the Montreal Convention can cover you for up to £1,550, a claim AirHelp+ members can pass to us. And depending on where your flight departed and who operated it, UK 261 or EC 261 may apply too, often for more than Mexican law pays. The section below sets out exactly when.

A return trip between the UK and Mexico is rarely governed by a single law. The outbound and the inbound legs are treated separately, and which rules apply turns on where the flight departed and which airline actually operated it. It's worth getting right, because UK 261 and EC 261 pay a fixed sum, up to £520 per person, that is often larger than the 25% under Mexican law and more straightforward to enforce.

Flying out from the UK. Any flight leaving a UK airport is covered by UK 261, whatever airline you're on, from British Airways or Virgin Atlantic to TUI or Aeroméxico. A London to Cancún or Manchester to Mexico City service is long-haul (over 3,500 km), so a qualifying delay or cancellation can be worth up to £520 per person.

Flying home from Mexico. The return is the leg to watch. UK 261 covers an arrival into the UK only when a UK or EU airline operates it, such as British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. Take a Mexican carrier like Aeroméxico for a direct flight home and that leg sits outside UK 261; here it's Mexican law, the 25% and the PROFECO route, that applies instead.

Connecting through Europe. Route via an EU hub and EC 261 can come into play. A Mexico City to Madrid leg flown by a European airline such as Iberia arrives in the EU on an EU carrier and is covered by EC 261, while the onward Madrid to London leg departs an EU airport and is covered too.

Because the answer shifts from one leg to the next, it's easy to assume you've no claim when in fact you do. AirHelp can work out which law covers each part of your journey and pursue the UK 261 or EC 261 claim on your behalf. For any leg that falls under Mexican law, PROFECO remains the route to follow.