You land at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport after a long flight, walk to the carousel, watch bag after bag come through, and yours never shows. That sinking feeling is something a lot of travelers know.
The good news is that most delayed bags do come back. But what action you take in the first hour after landing often decides how quickly you move forward and how well you get compensated.
This is the one rule that matters more than anything else on this list and applies whether you flew directly or connected through another Gulf hub. Travelers on a Kuwait City to Mumbai flight sometimes assume a connecting carrier is responsible, but the rule is simple: the airline that operated your final leg handles the baggage claim, regardless of who issued your ticket.
The moment you realize your bag hasn’t come through, go straight to the baggage service desk in the arrivals hall.
At the desk, you’ll fill out a Property Irregularity Report, commonly called a PIR. This is the document that officially records your missing bag and kicks off the search. You need to file this within 7 days of the incident for missing or damaged bags, and you should hold onto receipts for any essentials you buy while waiting. You’ll get a reference number, which you’ll use to track your bag and support any future compensation claim, so don’t lose it.
When filling out the PIR, describe your bag properly. Brand, size, color, distinguishing features, and what’s inside it. A generic description like “black suitcase” genuinely slows the search down. If you took a photo before you checked in, now is the time to show it.
Kuwait Airways logs your bag into the World Tracer System, a global database used by airlines to locate mishandled luggage across connecting airports and carriers.
On the Kuwait to Mumbai route, most delayed bags turn up within 24 to 72 hours and are typically put on the next available flight to Mumbai.
If the luggage is not found within 21 days from the date it should have been delivered, it is officially considered lost, and a compensation claim can be made against the airline.
Before your next trip, it’s also worth doing your flight web check-in online and confirming your baggage allowance in advance. Both Air India and subsidiary Air India Express offer web check-in, which opens 48 hours before departure and lets you sort seat selection and baggage details without the airport queue. Knowing your baggage rules before you fly reduces the chance of confusion at the check-in counter and at arrivals.
Both Kuwait and India are signatories to the Montreal Convention, the international treaty that governs airline liability for baggage on international flights. This is what gives you enforceable rights, not just goodwill from the airline.
From December 28, 2024, the ICAO raised compensation limits under the Montreal Convention. Passengers can now claim up to approximately US$ 2,000 for lost or delayed luggage. This figure covers the bag, its contents, and the essential items you had to buy while you waited.
Every receipt counts here: clothing, toiletries, chargers, anything you genuinely needed because your bag wasn’t there.
The Convention also requires airlines to cover the cost of essential replacement purchases made during a delay, up to the same liability ceiling. Any bag still undelivered after 21 days is treated as lost unless the airline recovers and returns it.
If your bag arrives damaged rather than lost, you have just 7 days from the date you receive it to file a written complaint with the airline. After that window, your right to claim will lapse.
If 21 days pass and the bag is still missing, file a formal claim with Kuwait Airways customer relations.
Important note: Kuwait Airways, like most international carriers, does not accept liability for valuables packed in checked baggage. Cash, jewelry, passports, laptops, and medication fall outside standard baggage claims. If those items were in your lost bag, your recovery through the airline alone will be limited. A travel insurance policy is what covers that gap, so check yours if you have one.
A few habits make a real difference. Take a photo of your packed suitcase and its contents before you hand it over at the airport check-in counter. Put a luggage tag with your name, phone number, and destination on both the outside and the inside of the bag. Carry any medication, essential documents, and one change of clothes in your cabin bag, always.
None of this takes more than five minutes, but it saves hours of stress if something goes wrong at the other end.
The Kuwait to Mumbai route is busy and well-operated. Bags do go missing occasionally, but the process for getting them back or getting compensated is clear. File your report before you leave the airport, know your rights, keep your paperwork, and follow up. That’s all it takes.
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