The battleground · Article 5(3)
“Extraordinary circumstances,” and when it’s nonsense
This is the one phrase that decides most claims. If the disruption was truly extraordinary, no compensation is due. Airlines know this, and they stretch the phrase well past where the courts allow. Here is where the line actually sits.
The two-limb test
To escape paying, the airline must prove both things, not one. This test comes from Wallentin-Hermann and it is the whole game.
1. An extraordinary event
Something outside the airline’s normal activity and beyond its actual control. A stray screw on the runway qualifies. A tired aircraft does not.
2. Unavoidable consequences
Even with a genuine extraordinary event, the airline must show it took all reasonable measures to limit the damage. This is where airlines quietly lose — they prove the event and forget the second half.
Usually still payable
Airlines describe these as extraordinary. The courts disagree.
| Cause | Why it doesn’t excuse them | Case |
|---|---|---|
| Technical or mechanical faults | Routine breakdowns are part of running an airline. | Wallentin-Hermann; van der Lans |
| Staff shortages and crew rostering | The airline’s own resourcing decisions. | — |
| A wildcat strike by the airline’s own staff | Flows from management’s own decisions. | Krüsemann |
| A late inbound aircraft | Usually the knock-on of an earlier problem the airline owns. | — |
| Overbooking | A commercial choice, never extraordinary. | — |
Usually genuinely extraordinary
Here the defence is real — but read the Pešková twist below before you give up.
| Cause | Why it’s external | Case |
|---|---|---|
| Severe weather | Genuine, but only excuses the delay it actually caused. | — |
| Air traffic control restrictions | Outside the airline’s control. | — |
| Airport or ground-handler strikes | Third-party action, external to the airline. | — |
| Bird strikes | External event — but see the twist below. | Pešková |
| Debris on the runway | The airport’s job to keep clear. | Germanwings; Moens |
| Security alerts and medical emergencies | Unforeseeable and external. | — |
The Pešková twist
A bird strike is extraordinary. Yet in Pešková the airline still had to pay — because a qualified engineer had already cleared the aircraft, and the airline’s own choice to wait for a second inspection caused the delay. An extraordinary event only excuses the delay it caused, never the extra the airline adds on afterwards. So even when the airline names a real extraordinary cause, ask: did that cause really account for the whole delay, or did their own handling stretch it past three hours?
If your claim was refused on extraordinary circumstances and the facts above don’t fit, challenge it — the template does exactly that. A free eligibility check is a sensible second opinion before you drop it.
Questions
Is bad weather always an extraordinary circumstance?
No. Weather can be extraordinary, but the airline must show it genuinely prevented your flight and that it could not limit the knock-on delay. If conditions had cleared before your slot, or other aircraft were flying normally, the defence often fails.
Is a strike an extraordinary circumstance?
It depends who struck. A wildcat strike by the airline’s own staff is not extraordinary (Krüsemann). A strike by air traffic control or airport staff usually is, because it is external to the airline.
The airline says technical fault. Do I still get paid?
Usually yes. Routine technical and mechanical faults are treated as part of running an airline and are not extraordinary (Wallentin-Hermann, van der Lans). Rare hidden manufacturing defects flagged by the maker can be different.