Michael's baggage went on a world tour when he flew with Qantas and SriLankan Airlines, sparking an 18-month battle for compensation. Now he's won a landmark victory - but exposed why Aussie travellers are doing it tough

An Aussie passenger endured a lengthy battle with an airline after his bags were lost on an international flight.

The nightmare began for Michael Pascale in May 2022, when he flew with Qantas from Brisbane to Sydney, then SriLankan Airlines via Colombo to Paris.

Mr Pascale arrived in the City of Lights but his luggage didn't.

He told the ABC he waited at the baggage carousel for his bags to appear.

'It was that situation of just watching it go round and round … and then it never shows up,' he recalled.

He only had the clothes on his back and one spare T-shirt. 

Mr Pascale filed a lost luggage report with Qantas, then started making daily calls to the airline.

Expecting his bag to turn up, he bought jeans at an op shop and cut the legs off and bought a pair of thongs for two Euros.

His luggage ended up in Dubai before it was sent to the UK and then returned to Brisbane.

By this stage, Mr Pascale was now in the US.

Realising that he wasn't going to get his bag, he bought new clothes and other items and requested for a refund from the airline.

He checked the terms and conditions on his airfare that mentioned the Montreal Convention - a 1999 multilateral treaty allowing passengers to claim compensation if their bag has been missing for more than 21 days.

He raised the Montreal Convention with Qantas, who shifted the blame to SriLankan Airlines, which originally only offered Mr Pascale $150.

He 'was pretty livid' by this stage in his quest to be fully compensated.

'I wanted my money… but also I didn't want them to just walk all over me,' Mr Pascale said.

He questioned why he continued to claim compensation with all the time and effort involved, but said it became a pride thing.

'I refused to let them win. To say it was an obsession is probably not too far from the truth.'

Mr Pascale commenced legal proceedings, lodging a claim with the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

'I just wanted to be compensated for the money I had spent on the clothes that I needed to survive the rest of my trip,' he said.

He added that he wasn't asking for any punitive damages.

Representatives from SriLankan Airlines were a no-show at the hearing.

SriLankan Airlines was ordered to pay Mr Pascale $2,717 within seven days.

This created a further issue as the airline is based in Melbourne and the ruling was made in Queensland.

Mr Pascale transferred the ruling to Victoria and hired a process server to deliver the documents to the SriLankan Airlines office.

A marathon 18 months after Mr Pascale's bag first went missing, the airline finally agreed to pay him what he owed.

Regarding passengers' rights, Australia is 'very far behind', with 'no single framework', according to Australian Lawyers Alliance spokesperson Victoria Roy said

This means passengers like Mr Pascale are forced to head to court to seek compensation.

The federal government is due to release its aviation white paper in the coming weeks.

Transport Minister Catherine King has said it will include measures to give greater protection to consumers. 

'Like all Australians, the government wants an aviation sector that supports our nation's way of life and this means services need to be reliable, competitive and affordable,' Ms King said in a statement. 

A Qantas spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the matter was an issue between Sri Lankan Airlines and the customer.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Sri Lankan Airlines for comment.