Extraordinary circumstances: when airlines don't have to pay (and when they do)

Usually NOT extraordinary (compensation likely)

• Ordinary technical or mechanical faults (EU Court of Justice: Wallentin-Hermann, C-549/07; van der Lans, C-257/14)
• Crew shortages and staffing problems
• Crew illness (UK Supreme Court: Lipton v BA City Flyer, 2024)
• Strikes by the airline's own staff, including union-called strikes (Krüsemann, C-195/17; Airhelp v SAS, C-28/20)
• 'Operational reasons'

Usually extraordinary (compensation unlikely)

• Weather that genuinely makes flying unsafe
• Air traffic control restrictions and air traffic control strikes
• Strikes by airport or other non-airline staff
• Security alerts, airport closures, political unrest
• Bird strikes (Pešková, C-315/15)
• Hidden manufacturing defects revealed by the manufacturer or an authority, and sabotage

Knock-on delays

Airlines often blame a delay on the late arrival of the aircraft's previous flight. That only works if the earlier flight was itself hit by a genuine extraordinary circumstance, there's a direct link, and the airline took all reasonable measures to limit the knock-on delay (LE v TAP, C-74/19). If the earlier delay was a technical fault, the knock-on excuse fails.

The burden is on the airline

It's for the airline to prove extraordinary circumstances, not for you to disprove them. If it relies on weather or air traffic control, ask for evidence that it affected your specific flight. From late 2027, the reformed EU rules add an official (non-exhaustive) list of extraordinary circumstances and require airlines to explain clearly which one they rely on.

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