When do extraordinary circumstances let an airline refuse to pay?

An airline can refuse fixed compensation only when it proves two things. First, an extraordinary circumstance caused the delay or cancellation. Second, it could not have avoided it even with all reasonable measures. That is the defence in Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004, and the UK version of the rules contains the same one.

The Court of Justice drew the line in Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia. A routine or maintenance-related technical problem is part of running an airline, so it is generally not extraordinary. Krüsemann v TUIfly reached a similar result for a strike by the airline's own staff. Severe weather, air traffic control restrictions, airport security events, bird strikes and strikes by outside workers may count. Even then, the airline must show that the event really caused your delay.

A 1,200 km flight lands four hours late because of a worn part. The airline owes you €250 under EU261, or £220 under UK261, unless it proves the defence. A label in a rejection email proves nothing by itself.

In your written reply, ask for the specific event and how it caused your delay. Keep your boarding pass, your booking and every message about the reason.

Weather only helps the airline if it was severe enough to stop or slow operations. That means at the airport, or on the route your aircraft used. A forecast storm, or rain that other flights flew through, is weaker evidence. The airline should be able to say where the weather hit, when, and how it stopped your flight.

Severe weather is on the list of events that may count as extraordinary under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004. The UK rules work the same way. The airline must prove the weather caused your disruption, and that all reasonable measures could not have avoided it.

As an illustration, a snowstorm at your departure airport cancels your 2,000 km flight on the day. If the airline proves the storm and its effect, it owes no fixed compensation. If it cannot, it can owe you €400 under EU261 or £350 under UK261. In both cases it must still offer a refund or rerouting, and meals and a hotel where needed.

Your next step is a written question: which airport and which hours does the airline rely on? Then compare its answer with the airport weather reports and with other departures in the same window.

Start with the facts you can check yourself. Look up the weather reports for your departure and arrival airports at the scheduled time. Check a flight-tracking site to see whether other flights on the same route left on time. Note anything the crew or gate staff said on the day, and keep screenshots of delay messages.

Those checks matter because the burden of proof is on the airline. Under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004, it must show that an extraordinary event caused your delay. It must also show that all reasonable measures could not have avoided it. A rejection that simply says "adverse weather" does neither.

Your 1,000 km flight arrives three and a half hours late. The airline blames weather, yet the reports show light wind and good visibility at both airports. Unless it proves weather elsewhere on the aircraft's route, it can owe you €250 under EU261 or £220 under UK261.

Write back to the airline with what you found. Ask it to name the airport, the hours and the weather it relies on, and to explain the link to your flight. If it still refuses without evidence, you can escalate the claim.

Each METAR is a short coded weather report for one airport. It gives the time, wind, visibility, weather and cloud. Common codes include TS for thunderstorm, SN for snow and FG for fog. Wind appears in knots, marked KT. Several free aviation weather archives let you search past METARs by airport code and date.

Check both your departure and arrival airports. Look at the hour before your scheduled departure and the hours around it. Then use a flight-tracking site to see whether other flights left or landed in the same window. If they did, the weather was probably not stopping traffic at that airport.

Why this matters: the airline carries the burden under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004. It must prove that severe weather caused your delay, and that all reasonable measures could not have avoided it. One common case: your 1,400 km flight arrives four hours late, and clear reports at both ends contradict a weather excuse. Unless the airline proves weather elsewhere on the route, it can owe you €250 under EU261 or £220 under UK261.

Save the reports as screenshots or files. Send them with your reply to the airline, and ask it to show its own evidence.

Your 1,300 km flight arrives four hours late. The rejection says "air traffic control restrictions" and nothing more. Without evidence of the restriction and its effect, the airline can owe you €250 under EU261 or £220 under UK261.

Air traffic control can limit how many flights use a piece of airspace or an airport. An airline may rely on such a restriction as an extraordinary circumstance under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004. The UK rules work the same way. But the defence only works when the airline proves it.

The airline must show three things. A restriction existed at the relevant time and place. That restriction caused your delay, not some other problem. And all reasonable measures could not have avoided it. A slot delay of one hour does not explain a delay of five hours on its own.

Reply in writing and ask for the restriction, the hours it applied and the delay it imposed on your flight. Note what you were told on the day, and check whether other flights on the same route left on time. Your right to meals and refreshments continues whatever the cause.

Air traffic controllers are not employed by the airline. So a strike by them may be an extraordinary circumstance. That lets the airline refuse fixed compensation under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004. The UK rules contain the same defence. A strike by the airline's own staff is treated differently.

The airline must still prove its case. It must show that the strike affected your flight's route or airport at the relevant time. It must also show that all reasonable measures could not have avoided the disruption. Strikes are often announced in advance, so ask what the airline did with that notice.

Suppose your 1,600 km intra-EU flight is cancelled two days before departure, during a controllers' strike. If the airline proves the strike stopped your flight, it owes no fixed compensation. If it cannot, it can owe you €400 under EU261. Either way it must let you choose a refund or rerouting, and offer meals and a hotel where needed.

Check whether your flight actually used the affected airspace or airport, and ask the airline for that link in writing. Keep receipts for any meals or hotel you paid for yourself.

In Krüsemann v TUIfly, the Court of Justice treated mass absence of the airline's own crew as part of its normal activity. That matters, because Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004 only protects airlines from events outside that activity. The Commission's 2024 guidelines say the same about strikes by an airline's own staff. Managing its workforce is the airline's job.

The usual conditions still apply. A cancellation with at least 14 days' notice brings no fixed compensation. For a delay, you must reach your final destination at least three hours late. The responsible party is the airline that operated the flight.

One common case: the cabin crew walk out, and your 1,800 km flight within the EU is cancelled three days before departure. The airline offers no rerouting that fits the notice rules. It can owe you €400 under EU261, or £350 for a UK flight of the same length. You also choose between a refund and rerouting, and the airline must give meals and a hotel where needed.

Check who was striking, because a strike by air traffic controllers or airport staff works differently. Then claim from the operating airline, and keep the strike notice or news report.

The first question is who employed the strikers. A strike by workers outside the airline, such as airport security or airport staff, may be an extraordinary circumstance it could not avoid. That defence sits in Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004. A strike by the airline's own staff generally does not qualify, as the Court of Justice held in Krüsemann v TUIfly. The UK rules follow the same logic.

The second question is whether the strike actually caused your delay. The airline must prove both points, and show that all reasonable measures could not have avoided the disruption. A strike at one terminal may not explain a delay at another.

Picture a 700 km flight that lands four hours late during an airport security strike. If the airline proves the strike caused the delay, it owes no fixed compensation. If the strikers worked for the airline, it can owe you €250 under EU261 or £220 under UK261.

Find out which group was on strike and who employed them, and keep news reports of the strike. Even when no compensation is due, the airline must still give you meals and refreshments during a long wait.

A 4,800 km flight from Frankfurt to Dubai reaches its final destination five hours late after a hydraulic fault. The airline can owe you €600 under EU261. Had the same flight arrived three and a half hours late, the airline could halve it to €300. A UK flight of that length brings £520, or £260 when halved.

Two Court of Justice rulings explain why. In Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia, it held that technical problems arising from the normal operation and maintenance of aircraft are part of those operations. In van der Lans v KLM, it applied the same approach to parts that failed unexpectedly early. Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004 only excuses events outside normal operations, and the UK rules contain the same defence.

There are narrow exceptions. A hidden manufacturing defect, sabotage or terrorism can be extraordinary. The airline must prove that one of these caused your delay. A general claim that the fault was "for safety reasons" does not do that, because every grounded aircraft is grounded for safety.

Find out in writing what failed and why. Keep the delay messages that mention a technical problem. Meals and refreshments are due while you wait, whatever the cause.

Surprise alone is not enough. In Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia, the Court of Justice held that technical problems from normal operation and maintenance do not qualify. In van der Lans v KLM, it applied that approach to a part that failed early and unexpectedly. Under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004, the airline can refuse fixed compensation only for extraordinary circumstances it proves.

A hidden manufacturing defect is different. That means a flaw in how the aircraft or part was designed or made, not ordinary wear. Sabotage and terrorism can also be extraordinary. The airline must show which of these happened and how it caused your delay.

As an illustration, a 1,900 km flight from Malaga to Frankfurt lands six hours late after an engine warning. The airline calls it unforeseeable but gives no details. Unless it proves a hidden defect, it can owe you €400 under EU261.

Write back and ask for the part, the cause its engineers found, and any manufacturer notice it relies on. Keep your booking and delay messages. If it still refuses without evidence, you can escalate the claim to a national enforcement body or a court.

In Pešková v Travel Service, the Court of Justice accepted that a collision with a bird can be an extraordinary circumstance. An airline can then avoid fixed compensation under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004, if it could not avoid the delay. The UK rules contain the same defence.

The burden stays with the airline. It must prove the bird strike happened and that it caused your delay. It must also show that all reasonable measures could not have avoided or shortened the delay. If the strike happened on an earlier flight, the airline must show the link to yours.

Your 2,200 km flight arrives four hours late. The airline says a bird hit the aircraft as it landed from its previous flight. If it proves the strike and its reasonable response, it owes no fixed compensation. If it cannot, it can owe you €400 under EU261 or £350 under UK261.

Get the airline to state when and where the strike happened, and how long the inspection took. Compare that with your total delay. If the airline gave you nothing, keep receipts for the food you bought, because care is due either way.

A pilot calls in sick on the morning of departure, and your 600 km domestic UK flight is cancelled. The airline rebooks you on a flight arriving five hours late. It can owe you £220 under UK261. On an EU flight of the same length, the figure is €250.

Illness among the people who fly the aircraft is generally treated as part of running an airline. That matters because Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004 only excuses events outside the airline's normal activity.

The other conditions still apply. Your flight must be in scope, and you must reach your final destination at least three hours late. A cancellation with at least 14 days' notice brings no fixed compensation. If the illness came from an outside event, the airline may argue differently, and it must prove that.

Ask the airline to confirm the reason in writing, and keep the cancellation message. The airline must also give you meals, refreshments and a hotel where needed while you wait.

Crew duty limits are safety rules the airline knows in advance. So the real question is what pushed the crew past them. The airline must prove that cause was extraordinary and could not be avoided with all reasonable measures. Only then does Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004 excuse it.

A crew that timed out after a maintenance problem has an internal root cause. Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia treats such technical problems as part of normal operations. If the earlier delay came from severe weather or an air traffic control restriction, the airline may rely on that. It must still show what it did to find a replacement crew or another solution.

Suppose your 1,500 km flight is cancelled at the gate. The crew timed out after a two-hour fault on the inbound aircraft, and the airline rebooks you for the next morning. It can owe you €250 under EU261 or £220 under UK261. Because you stay overnight, it must also provide a hotel, transport to it and meals.

Put two questions to the airline: what caused the original delay, and what did it do to replace the crew? Keep the messages from the gate and any receipts for meals or a hotel.

A drone over the runway can close an airport. Closures and security events like this may count as extraordinary circumstances under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004. The UK rules contain the same defence. The airline must still prove that the closure caused your cancellation or delay, and that all reasonable measures could not have avoided it.

Closures also cause knock-on disruption. Aircraft and crews end up in the wrong place for a day or more. The airline can rely on that only if it proves the link to your flight. A cancellation several days after the airport reopened needs a clear explanation.

Your other rights do not depend on the cause. For a cancellation, you choose between a refund, rerouting at the earliest opportunity, or a later flight that suits you. A refund is due within seven days. The airline must also give meals, refreshments and a hotel where needed.

One common case: your 1,100 km flight is cancelled during the closure. If the airline proves the drone caused it, it owes no fixed £220 or €250. It still owes care and your choice of refund or rerouting. Keep receipts for anything you paid for yourself, and ask the airline to confirm the reason in writing.

Your part is the simpler one. Show that your flight was in scope, and that you had a confirmed booking and checked in on time. Then show how late you reached your final destination. Arrival time is when a door opens and passengers may leave, not touchdown.

The airline has the harder job. The Regulation sets out your rights and then gives the airline one main defence, in Article 5(3). It need not pay fixed compensation if it proves extraordinary circumstances that all reasonable measures could not have avoided. The Court of Justice confirmed this approach in Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia. The UK rules work the same way.

A 5,800 km flight from Paris to New York arrives five hours late. The airline writes that the delay was "due to extraordinary circumstances" and gives no detail. Unless it proves what happened and why it could not be avoided, it can owe you €600 under EU261. A London to New York flight in the same position would bring £520 under UK261.

Reply in writing. Ask the airline to name the event, show how it caused your delay and list the measures it took. Keep a copy of every message, because you may need them if you escalate the claim.

The airline's defence has two parts, and it must prove both. First, an extraordinary circumstance. Second, that the disruption could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures. The Court of Justice applied this two-part test to Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004 in Wallentin-Hermann v Alitalia. The second part is often where the argument happens.

Reasonable measures depend on the airline's real options at the time. Could it have used another aircraft or crew it had nearby? Could it have rebooked passengers sooner? Did it plan its schedule with enough slack for known risks? The airline must explain what it did.

As an illustration, a storm closes your departure airport for two hours. Your 1,900 km flight then leaves nine hours late, because the airline waited for its own aircraft. If it had a reasonable alternative and did not use it, it may still owe you €400 under EU261 or £350 under UK261.

Ask the airline what it did once the event happened, and when. Compare the length of the event with the length of your delay. A large gap is worth raising in your reply.

Even when the airline owes no compensation, it still owes you care. Extraordinary circumstances only remove the fixed compensation in Article 7 of Regulation 261/2004. In McDonagh v Ryanair, the Court of Justice held that care continues even during long, widespread disruption caused by events outside the airline's control. The UK rules give the same protection.

Picture a snowstorm that cancels your 1,200 km evening flight, with the next seat the following afternoon. The airline may owe no fixed compensation of €250. It must still give you meals, a hotel and transfers, and let you choose a refund instead.

The care starts at set points. For flights up to 1,500 km, meals and refreshments are due after two hours. For flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km, and intra-EU flights over 1,500 km, the point is three hours. For other flights it is four hours. When you need to stay overnight, the airline must give you a hotel and transport to it. You also get two calls or emails.

If the airline gives you nothing, keep your spending reasonable. Save every receipt for meals, the hotel and taxis. Then claim the costs back from the operating airline in writing.

Build a simple timeline first. Include each delay message, app notification and email, with the time it arrived. Add what the pilot or gate staff said, in their words if you can. Use a flight-tracking site to note when the aircraft arrived from its previous flight.

A changed reason matters because the airline carries the burden. Under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004, it must prove that an extraordinary circumstance caused your delay. It must also prove that all reasonable measures could not have avoided it. When the reason shifts between the gate and the rejection letter, ask which version it can prove. A gate message about a technical fault helps you, because an ordinary fault is generally not extraordinary.

Your 1,700 km flight from Manchester to Rome arrives four hours late. On the day, the app said "technical issue". The rejection now says "air traffic control". If the airline cannot prove the restriction and its effect, it can owe you £350 under UK261.

Send the timeline with a short reply asking the airline to explain the change and show its evidence. Keep copies of everything. If it still refuses without proof, you can escalate the claim to a national enforcement body or a court.

Your first reply goes to the airline, which carries the burden of proof under Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004. Ask for the event, the time and place, the link to your flight and the measures it took. Attach your own evidence, such as delay messages and weather reports.

Suppose your 1,600 km flight from Dublin to Lisbon arrived five hours late after a fault the airline called extraordinary. If a court rejects that defence, the airline can owe you €400.

If the airline still refuses, you have outside routes. Each EU country has a national enforcement body for passenger rights, and the UK has the Civil Aviation Authority. Some airlines belong to approved dispute schemes. You can also go to court. The Regulation sets no court deadline, so national law does, as Cuadrench Moré v KLM confirmed. The limit is six years in England and Wales, five in France and Spain, two in the Netherlands and one in Poland.

A reform of the rules is on its way. The European Parliament approved it on 7 July 2026, and it is expected to apply from the second half of 2027. It brings a 30-day deadline for airlines to pay or give a specific reason. It also sets one EU-wide 9-month claim deadline. Until it applies, the current rules and national deadlines stand.

When Etna sends ash over Catania, flights stop because no one can safely fly through it. Article 5(3) of Regulation 261/2004 lets the airline refuse compensation for extraordinary circumstances that all reasonable measures could not have avoided. The 2024 Commission guidelines treat airport and airspace events of this kind as possible extraordinary circumstances. The airline still has to show that the ash really caused your cancellation.

A Catania to London Gatwick flight is about 1,940 km. Cancelled at short notice for an internal reason, such as a crew shortage, it would earn €400 per passenger under Article 7. When the ash is the true cause, that payment falls away, but nothing else does.

The Court of Justice dealt with the 2010 Icelandic ash cloud in McDonagh v Ryanair (C-12/11). It held that the duty of care continues even in a crisis of that size. So the airline must still offer meals, a hotel and transfers while you wait. Under Article 8, you also choose between a refund and the next available flight.

Keep receipts for anything you pay for yourself, and ask for the cancellation reason in writing. Once the airport reopens, check the reason given for any later disruption. A cancellation days after the ash cleared may have a different cause, and that cause is judged on its own.