Lost or delayed bag in Saudi Arabia: what to do and what to claim

If your bag does not come out on the belt, report it before you leave the baggage hall. The airline's baggage desk opens a report and gives you a reference number, often called a PIR (Property Irregularity Report). Tracing and compensation both start from that number, and it is much harder to get one once you have left the airport.

At the airport

Go to your airline's baggage desk in the arrivals hall. Take your boarding pass and the bag tag sticker the check-in agent gave you, usually stuck to the boarding pass or the back of your passport.

The agent will ask for the bag's colour, brand, size and anything that marks it out, such as a ribbon or a sticker. A rough list of what was inside helps too. Give a phone number and an address where the bag can be delivered, and keep a copy of the report with the reference number on it.

If the bag arrives damaged, report that at the same desk and take photos before you leave.

Saudia also accepts a location link from a Google Find Hub tracker. When you report a delayed or missing bag, you can attach a temporary link from your tracker to the claim. The link expires after seven days.

What the Saudi rules pay

Saudi Arabia's Passenger Rights Protection Regulations, issued by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) and published in the official gazette Umm Al-Qura, set baggage compensation in Special Drawing Rights (SDR).

The SDR is an accounting unit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Its value is worked out from a basket of major currencies, and airlines pay you in riyals, dirhams or another currency, not in SDR. The amounts in brackets below are approximate. They use the IMF rate of 12 November 2026 (1 SDR = US$1.349250) and the fixed rates of 3.75 riyals and 3.6725 dirhams to the dollar, so 1 SDR came to about SAR 5.06 or AED 4.96 that day. The riyal amount moves a little whenever the SDR does.

The airline does not pay for damage that came from a fault in the bag itself (Article 15(5)(c)). If a delayed bag has not arrived within 21 days of the date it was due, you can ask the airline to treat it as lost (Article 15(5)(d)). Jewellery, electronics and other valuables are covered above these limits only if you declared them, and their value, to the airline before check-in (Article 15(6)). Each piece counts separately, including extra bags you paid for (Article 15(7)). The airline must pay within 15 days (Article 21).

The rules cover every flight leaving a Saudi airport, whatever the airline. They also cover flights into Saudi Arabia on a Saudi airline, unless you are compensated under the rules of the country you flew from. For flights into Saudi Arabia on a foreign airline, GACA still accepts baggage complaints (Article 3).

The Montreal Convention on international flights

International flights between countries that have joined the Montreal Convention of 1999 also fall under it. Three of its articles matter for bags:

• Article 17(3): if a checked bag has not arrived 21 days after the date it should have, you can claim it as lost.
• Article 31(2): complain to the airline in writing within 7 days of receiving a damaged bag, and within 21 days of the day a delayed bag was handed to you. An airline can refuse a complaint that comes later.
• Article 22(2): the airline's liability for a bag is limited per passenger. ICAO raised this limit from 1,288 SDR to 1,519 SDR (about SAR 7,686 or AED 7,527) from 28 December 2024. The Saudi regulation still names 1,288 SDR for a lost bag.

Send your written claim by email or through the airline's claim form, quote your reference number, and keep a copy. Keep receipts for anything you had to buy while waiting, and the bag tag, until the claim is closed.

If the airline does not answer

Complain to the airline first and keep its reference number. If the reply does not settle it, GACA's Passenger Rights Protection Department receives complaints against airlines covered by the regulation (Article 23). You will need the airline's reference number, your ticket and the PIR.

Before your next flight

• Take a photo of your bag and of what you packed.
• Put your name and phone number on a tag outside the bag and on a card inside it.
• Carry medicines, documents, chargers and jewellery in your cabin bag. Our guide to hand baggage on Gulf airlines lists each airline's cabin bag weight and size.
• A small Bluetooth tracker in the checked bag gives you, and on Saudia the airline, its location.

Allowances differ by fare as well as by airline. Before you pack, check yours on our baggage pages, which cover 15 airlines, such as the Saudia baggage page and the flynas baggage page.

Questions

How long before a delayed bag counts as lost?

Under the Saudi rules, 21 days from the date it was due. After that you can ask the airline to treat it as lost and pay the lost bag amount.

I flew into Riyadh from Dubai on a foreign airline. Do the Saudi rules help me?

GACA accepts baggage complaints for flights into Saudi Arabia on foreign airlines. Report the bag at the airport and claim in writing with the airline first.

My laptop was in my checked bag and it was damaged. What can I claim?

Only up to the 1,288 SDR limit (about SAR 6,517), unless you declared it and its value to the airline before check-in. Keep laptops and other valuables in your cabin bag.

Last checked: 13 November 2026

Sources

• Umm Al-Qura: Passenger Rights Protection Regulations, Articles 3, 15, 21 and 23 (Arabic), checked 13 November 2026
• GACA: passenger rights, checked 13 November 2026
• ICAO: 2024 revised limits of liability under the Montreal Convention, checked 13 November 2026
• Montreal Convention 1999, full text, Articles 17, 22 and 31 (UK legislation), checked 13 November 2026
• IMF: SDR valuation, rate of 12 November 2026
• Saudia News: Google Find Hub location sharing for baggage