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Baggage Claims Policy

If there is any disagreement regarding the interpretation of this baggage claims policy, this English version of the policy will take precedence over versions in other languages.

Delayed Baggage

If your checked baggage does not arrive on the conveyor belt or the location where you have been asked to collect your baggage, please contact our Baggage Service Staff at the baggage reclaim hall before proceeding to customs clearance. Our Baggage Services Staff will assist you to file a delayed baggage report. You may contact us to check on the status of your baggage by providing the number found on the baggage tag handed to you at check-in prior to boarding your flight or on the baggage tag attached to your baggage or the delayed baggage report reference number.

It is important for you to report the delay of your baggage to us at the airport of arrival before leaving the baggage reclaim hall as it is easier for us to locate your delayed baggage.

If you have purchased insurance to cover you for your journey, a claim should also be sent to your insurance company.  Upon your request, we can provide a report for travel insurance claims.

In most cases, we will deliver your baggage to your address as soon as we receive it. Please therefore ensure that we have that address before you leave the airport. Depending on the local regulations and the delivery coverage, we may require you to collect the bag at the airport where your baggage was delayed or have it sent to the airport nearest to you for collection.

Damaged Baggage

Before you leave the baggage reclaim hall, please check that your baggage is in good condition. If you find any damage to your baggage, please report it immediately to our Baggage Service Staff located at the baggage reclaim hall before proceeding to customs clearance. Our Baggage Services Staff will assist you to file a damaged baggage report.  

If your baggage has been damaged, it is important for you to report this to us at the airport of arrival before leaving the baggage reclaim hall since it will be easier for us to determine then if you have a valid claim and how we can help.

If you have purchased insurance to cover you for your journey, a claim should also be sent to your insurance company.  Upon your request, we can provide a report for travel insurance claims.

Our Baggage Services Staff will evaluate the damage and may offer to arrange for and pay for its repair or offer compensation, subject to the information you provide, the condition of the damaged baggage, and our claims policy and liability to you.

Unclaimed Baggage and Items left on board

If you have forgotten to collect your checked baggage at the airport or have accidentally left any item on board the aircraft, please contact your local baggage service office here. Our Baggage Services Staff will assist you in retrieving your belongings. Please note that you will be required to pick up your belongings at the airport. We will not be responsible for delivering your belongings to your address.

All unclaimed baggage and items left on board will be kept in our Baggage Service Office or the relevant local authority for 90 days, starting from the date of our receipt of such items, before disposal. Please be aware that the disposal time may vary depending on the local authority regulation or the condition of the item.

Making a claim

If your baggage is missing or if it has been damaged, please follow the procedures below to make a claim:

  1. Report this to our Baggage Service Staff at the airport of arrival; and
  2. Separately send your written complaint to us within the following time limits:
  • if the damage is physical in nature, within seven (7) days of receipt of your Checked-In Baggage;
  • if the damage consists of complete loss of your Checked-In Baggage, within twenty-one (21) days from the date on which the Baggage ought to arrive; and
  • if the damage consists of delay to your Checked-In Baggage, within twenty-one (21) days from the date on which the Baggage was placed at your disposal.

Please send a written complaint, even if you have completed a baggage claim form at the airport or received a baggage tracing report.

To process your claim, we will require you to provide us with relevant details such as the brand and manufacturer of the baggage, its colour and dimensions, the contents of your baggage and purchase receipts for the mishandled items. This information is crucial for us to process your claim.

You can find the contact details for our local baggage stations here. Once we receive your written complaint, our Baggage Services Staff will assist you with this matter.

Please note that in accordance with the law governing your claim, we will have no liability to you and do not have to give you compensation if you do not send us a written complaint within the times specified above.

If you have purchased insurance to cover you for your journey, a claim should also be sent to your insurance company. 

Notice of Limits of Liability

For many international journeys (including domestic portions of international journeys) air law conventions will govern your claims. Where the Warsaw Convention applies, we are entitled to limit our liability to 17 Special Drawing Rights per kilo for checked baggage and 332 Special Drawing Rights per passenger for unchecked or cabin baggage. In cases where the Montreal Convention applies to your journey, the applicable liability limit is 1,288 Special Drawing Rights per passenger for checked and unchecked baggage. The rate of conversion of a Special Drawing Right as defined by the International Monetary Fund fluctuates and can be found at www.imf.org.

These limits of liability will not apply  for damage to your baggage if you can prove that the damage resulted from an act or omission by us or our agents, carried out either with an intention to cause damage or recklessly and with knowledge that the damage would likely result, and you prove that our employees or agents responsible for the act or omission were acting within the scope of their employment.

Claim exclusions

Please note that we are not liable for:

  • Damage to unchecked / cabin baggage, including personal items which you had in the aircraft cabin, unless caused by our or our agent’s negligence.
  • Damage caused by your baggage or property contained in your baggage. You are responsible for damage caused by your baggage to other people and/or their property, including our property, and you shall indemnify us for all losses and expenses incurred by us as a result.
  • Damage to your baggage resulting from the inherent defect, quality or vice of your baggage.
  • Fair wear and tear of your baggage resulting from the usual and normal rigors of air transportation.
  • Damage to protruding parts of your baggage such as wheels, stand, pull straps or telescopic handles, hanger or hooks, loose flaps, pockets or loosely attached items.
  • Damage to baggage labelled with a limited release tag at the time of acceptance.
  • Damage to baggage or items unsuitably packed as or placed in Checked-In Baggage or over-packed baggage.
  • Damage to baggage caused by delay if we can prove that we and our agents took all reasonable measures to avoid the damage or that it was impossible for us or our agents to take such measures.
  • Damage caused by your own negligence or other wrongful act or omission.

Items excluded from claims

Except for checked or unchecked baggage carried in the course of international carriage as defined by the Warsaw or Montreal Conventions, or where carriage by air laws in a non-convention jurisdiction specify otherwise, we are not liable in any way whatever for loss of, damage to or delay in the delivery of certain high value or vulnerable articles which you include in your baggage (both checked and unchecked baggage) which we have listed as being prohibited in our ticket notices and Conditions of Contract and / or Conditions of Carriage (https://www.hkexpress.com/en-hk/need-help/conditions-of-carriage/).

 

Time Bar

If you send us a written complaint within the times referred to above for damage, loss and delay to baggage, then we will seek to resolve your claim on a timely basis. You should note, however, that any right you may have for compensation shall be extinguished if court proceedings are not brought within two years from the date of your arrival at the destination airport, or the date on which the aircraft ought to have arrived, or the date on which the carriage stopped. If your claim is not resolved and you do not commence court proceedings in that time then we have the right to deny you compensation.

Contact Us

If you have any baggage loss/damage enquiries upon arriving at the destination airport, please contact the applicable local baggage service office here for further assistance.

For other baggage-related enquiries, please visit our Baggage FAQ.