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SHGM Turkish Aviation Authority

How to Complain to the SHGM (Turkish Civil Aviation)

⚡ Key Takeaways for How to Complain to the SHGM (Turkish Civil Aviation)

  • Final Tier: The SHGM is the Turkish regulator. If TK denies your valid SHY-PASS claim, this is the body that can issue fines.
  • Online Portal: SHGM has an 'SBB' portal where you can upload your case and evidence for a free, government-led review. This is particularly effective for disputes involving involuntary bumping from overbooked flights.
  • Enforcement: While SHGM can't always 'force' a payment, their ruling is powerful evidence if you later take the airline to court.

If you have filed a perfectly valid compensation claim against Turkish Airlines for a catastrophic delay, cancellation, or denied boarding incident, and they have either outright rejected your claim citing fabricated "extraordinary circumstances," or simply ignored your emails for months, you have reached the limits of airline customer service. Your next mandatory legal recourse is to escalate the matter to the state aviation authority: the SHGM (Sivil Havacılık Genel Müdürlüğü). As the Turkish Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the SHGM possesses the administrative power to review airline decisions, mandate compliance with the Turkish SHY-PASS passenger rights legislation, and levy significant fines against non-compliant carriers. However, navigating the SHGM's bureaucratic portal requires precision, specific evidence, and an understanding of their exact jurisdiction.

1. Understanding SHGM Jurisdiction vs. EU261

Before launching an SHGM complaint, you must verify that they are the legally competent authority for your specific flight path. The SHGM only enforces the Turkish SHY-PASS regulation, not European EC 261/2004.

When to Contact the SHGM

  • Any flight departing from a Turkish airport (e.g., Istanbul IST to New York JFK).
  • Any flight operated by a Turkish carrier (like TK or Pegasus) arriving in Turkey from a non-EU country (e.g., Dubai DXB to Istanbul IST).

When to Contact a European NEB

  • Any flight departing from an EU airport (e.g., Paris CDG to Istanbul IST).
  • The SHGM has zero jurisdiction over EU departures. You must contact the French DGAC (National Enforcement Body) instead to claim your EU261 compensation.

2. Mandatory Prerequisites for Escalation

You cannot bypass the airline and go straight to the government. The SHGM will immediately dismiss your case unread if you have not followed the mandatory preliminary escalation steps required by Turkish civil law.

  1. Direct Complaint: You must first submit your formal claim structure directly to Turkish Airlines via their official Customer Feedback page. Keep copies of the confirmation screen and reference numbers.
  2. Airline Response: Turkish Airlines must formally reply and reject your claim (e.g., citing a "bird strike" or "weather conditions" that you dispute).
  3. The 14-Day Timeout: If you submit the claim to TK and they completely ignore you, you must wait a minimum of 14 calendar days from the date of submission before the SHGM will legally recognize the airline's inaction as grounds for intervention.

3. Navigating the SHGM Portal

If the airline has rejected you or timed out, you must access the official SHGM passenger complaint portal. While the Turkish government has vastly improved digital access, the reality is that the portal remains heavily optimized for Turkish citizens who possess an e-Devlet (e-Government) login credential. Foreign nationals face a slightly steeper path.

A digital SHGM legal claim portal on a tablet

For foreign nationals, you will need to utilize the dedicated passport-based registration system on the official SBB (Yolcu Hakları / Passenger Rights) platform. Ensure you have digitized copies of your passport data page. The interface frequently defaults to Turkish, so utilizing a browser-based translation extension like Google Translate is highly recommended for accuracy.

4. Structuring a Winning SHGM Complaint

The SHGM investigates thousands of complaints monthly. They are administrative officers, not your personal lawyers. If you submit a rambling, emotional essay about how a ruined vacation broke your heart, they will deprioritize it. You must provide calculated, dry, and undeniable evidence of regulatory violations.

  • The PNR and Boarding Pass: You must upload a high-resolution scan of your boarding pass and clearly state your 6-character PNR. This proves you were a confirmed traveler.
  • The Rejection Letter: Upload a PDF printout of the email where Turkish Airlines rejected your claim. This proves exhaustion of remedies.
  • Contradictory Evidence: If TK claimed "Weather Conditions" caused your cancellation, but you have screenshots from FlightRadar24 showing every other Pegasus airline and Lufthansa flight departing normally from Istanbul at that exact time, upload those screenshots. Challenge their "Extraordinary Circumstances" directly.
  • State Your Demand: Clearly state: "I demand an administrative ruling ordering Turkish Airlines to pay the statutory €600 compensation mandated under SHY-PASS for a delay exceeding 5 hours on an international flight."

5. The Reality of Regulatory Rulings

The SHGM process is free, but it is not flawless. Investigations can easily stretch from 3 to 6 months depending on the agency's backlog. Furthermore, while the SHGM has the authority to issue sweeping fines against Turkish Airlines for systemic abuses (like hiding their legal cash liabilities behind miles vouchers), they are fundamentally an administrative regulator, not a civil court.

If the airline flatly refuses to pay you even after the SHGM writes a letter instructing them to do so, the SHGM cannot forcibly garnish Turkish Airlines' corporate bank accounts on your behalf. At that stage, the airline has called your bluff, and your only remaining avenue is formal civil litigation in a commercial court—a process that is overwhelmingly difficult without Turkish legal representation.

Bypass the Bureaucracy

Waiting 6 months for a government agency to write a letter the airline might ignore is not an effective strategy. Our legal team litigates directly against Turkish Airlines every single day, possessing the authority to serve formal civil notices that compel actual payment.

Olha Habestro

Written & Legally Reviewed by Olha Habestro

Olha leads the Customer Support team at AirAdvisor. Her deep understanding of airline claim processes and passenger rights ensures that every traveler receives timely and accurate legal guidance for their disruptions.