Ontario court rules Ukraine International Airlines must pay uncapped compensation to families of PS 752 victims
August 13, 2025
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld a landmark ruling that Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) must pay full, uncapped compensation to the Canadian-linked families of those killed when Flight PS 752 was shot down by Iran in January 2020.
The court dismissed UIA’s appeal against a June 2024 decision that found the airline negligent for allowing the flight to depart from Tehran amid escalating military tensions. The ruling means UIA cannot use the Montreal Convention’s liability cap – around $180,000 (CA$230,000) per passenger – and must pay damages reflecting the actual losses suffered by each claimant.
The decision matters not just for the 176 victims of PS 752, but for aviation safety more broadly. Legal experts say it sends a clear message to airlines: “open airspace” does not automatically mean safe airspace in conflict zones.
How much compensation will Ukraine International Airlines be liable for?
The court’s finding of negligence removes the usual compensation ceiling, leaving UIA exposed to potentially tens of millions of Canadian dollars in claims.
The Ontario case covers only the families of passengers with a legal connection to Canada, including Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and others eligible under the Montreal Convention’s jurisdiction rules, and only those who have joined the action. This includes the families of at least 76 of the 167 passengers.
If calculated at the former Montreal Convention limit, payouts could total around CA$17.5 million ($12.7 million). But with no cap, wrongful death awards in Canada can easily exceed CA$500,000 per family, pushing total liability to CA$38 million ($28 million) or more.
UIA has previously offered advance payments of about €21,000 ($25,000) per passenger to immediate family members. These were made under the Montreal Convention framework and are separate from the larger, court-ordered sums.
Why isn’t Iran paying compensation for shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752?
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps admitted to mistakenly shooting down PS 752, killing all passengers and crew. Yet holding Tehran financially accountable through Canadian courts is legally complex.
Under international law, states are generally immune from lawsuits in foreign courts unless they waive that immunity or fall within narrow exceptions (such as certain terrorism cases). This shields Iran from most civil claims abroad.
The Montreal Convention governs airline liability, not state liability, so it offers no direct route to sue a government for military action.
Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, and the UK are pursuing cases against Iran at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking reparations through diplomatic and legal channels. Outcomes in these forums are slow and depend on international pressure, not domestic enforcement.
For families outside Canada, different avenues are being pursued in their home jurisdictions. Some have launched civil actions where possible, while others rely on their governments to negotiate settlements or press claims through international bodies.
With the appeal ruling now settled, the legal path is clear for Canadian-linked families to recover damages from UIA. But the larger battle of securing accountability and compensation from the state responsible for downing the aircraft remains far from resolved.
