Russia
Russian law pays 100 roubles for each full hour of delay, capped at half the fare. That is about €1 an hour, and it is the whole of the cash entitlement. The care obligations under Federal Aviation Rules 82 are worth far more than the money.
Check your own flight against Article 120 of the Air Code →Who it covers
- Flights departing Russia, and flights to Russia on a Russian carrier.
- Article 120 penalises delay only. A cancellation is dealt with through the refund and re-routing rules, not through this penalty.
- The fine was quadrupled from its old level of 25% of the notional minimum wage — 25 roubles an hour — to a flat 100 roubles. It is still nominal.
What it pays
| Distance or situation | Per passenger |
|---|---|
| Each full hour of delay | ₽100 |
| Hard ceiling | 50% of the fare |
| A nine-hour delay, in practice | about €10 |
What triggers it
Delay in delivering the passenger
The penalty runs per completed hour from the scheduled arrival. Part-hours do not count, and the total can never exceed half of what you paid.
What the airline escapes on
Article 120 excuses the carrier where the delay was caused by force majeure, by rectifying a fault that threatened the life or health of passengers, or by other circumstances beyond its control. That is a wider let-out than the European test.
Why the care rules are the real claim
Federal Aviation Rules 82, paragraph 99 — amended by Order 341 of 15 October 2025 and in force from 1 March 2026 — require water after two hours, a hot meal after four, and a hotel after eight hours by day or six at night, with transport to it. Those are owed whatever caused the delay, and they are worth many times the hourly fine.
Duty of care — separate from compensation
Water from two hours, hot meals and drinks from four, two calls or messages, and a hotel room with transport from eight hours during the day or six overnight. Night runs from 22:00 to 06:00. These are obligations on the carrier, not gestures, and they do not depend on the cause.
The refusals airlines send, and what answers them
“The delay was outside our control”
Ask which limb they are relying on. Force majeure and a safety-critical repair are real defences to the fine; commercial and crewing problems are not. And none of them touches the care obligations, which apply regardless.
“You have had your compensation”
A voucher or miles are not the Article 120 penalty, and accepting food does not settle the money. They are separate entitlements under separate rules.
“The fine is only 25 roubles an hour”
That was the old figure, tied to the notional minimum wage. It is now 100 roubles per hour. Sources that still quote 25 are out of date.
Enforcement
Rosaviatsia oversees the Federal Aviation Rules, and Rospotrebnadzor takes consumer complaints against carriers. A claim against the airline must be made in writing before suing, and the courts handle the rest.
How long you have
One year for a claim arising out of carriage, under Article 797(3) of the Civil Code — far shorter than the European periods, so do not sit on it.
Primary sources
Read the law itself rather than anyone's summary of it, this one included. Every link below was checked on 12 September 2026.
- Air Code Article 120 — ConsultantPlus
- Air Code Article 120 — Garant
- Fines for flight delay raised fourfold — Garant news
By situation, rather than by statute
If you would rather start from what happened than from which law applies: my flight was cancelled · they are blaming a strike · they are blaming a technical fault · I was denied boarding · I am stuck at the airport
The other statutes
- EU261 compensation — EU261
- UK261 compensation — UK261
- Israeli Aviation Services Law — the Aviation Services Law
- US flight delay rules — US DOT rules
- Canada APPR compensation — the APPR
- Montreal Convention 1999 — the Montreal Convention
- Türkiye — the SHY-Passenger Regulation
- India — the DGCA CAR
- Brazil — ANAC Resolution 400
- Thailand — the CAAT passenger rules
- Indonesia — Ministerial Regulation PM 89
- Saudi Arabia — the GACA customer protection rules