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Extraordinary circumstances: when an airline does not have to pay

Extraordinary circumstances are the main reason an airline refuses a valid claim. The rules list no fixed causes. Courts decide case by case, and read the exception strictly.

Updated

The test

Under EU261 Article 5(3), the airline does not owe compensation if it can show the disruption was caused by circumstances that its normal operation does not cover and that it could not have avoided with reasonable measures. The airline carries that burden.

Usually accepted

  • Weather unsafe for the flight
  • Air traffic control restrictions
  • Strikes by air traffic controllers or airport staff
  • Volcanic ash and airspace closure
  • Security risk or terrorism
  • Political unrest
  • Hidden manufacturing defect or sabotage
  • Medical emergency of a passenger on board

Usually not accepted

  • Ordinary technical faults and maintenance problems
  • An early failure of a part
  • Crew shortage or crew sickness
  • Strike by the airline's own staff over pay or conditions, including wildcat strikes
  • Late arrival of the same aircraft when the earlier cause was within the airline's control

UK261 follows the same approach. The UK Civil Aviation Authority lists weather, outside strikes, terrorism, security risks, political unrest and hidden manufacturing defects as extraordinary, and says technical faults are not.

What the calculator does with it

Hours Late asks for the reason the airline gave. For weather, air traffic control and outside strikes it shows the claim as possibly excused, because those are the causes courts most often accept. It never decides the question. A reason given at the airport is not final. You can ask for it in writing and test it.

Canada works differently

Canada APPR pays when the cause was within the airline’s control and not required for safety. The airline makes the first call. See Canada APPR.

Related: strikes, weather and proof you need.

Check your flight

Where the trip started. For one booking with connections, the first airport.

Where the trip ended: the final destination.

The operating airline, not the one on the ticket. A boarding pass or the flight status page names it.

What happened

At the final destination, when the aircraft door opened.

We read this to explain the result. We never decide whether it counts as extraordinary.

Carried into the claim letter. It does not change the amount.

Results

Enter both airports and the airline to see a result.

Loading the airport list

Choose where the trip started, where it ended, the airline and what happened. The result updates as you type.

Information, not advice

Hours Late is not a law firm and not a claims company. It does not file claims for you. The results are estimates from published rules and the details you enter. They are not legal advice. Airlines and courts decide each case.

Sources