Extraordinary circumstances: when may an airline really refuse?

What the law means

The regulation only cancels compensation for circumstances beyond the airline's control that could not have been avoided with all reasonable measures. Two conditions, and the airline must prove both.

The Court of Justice reads this strictly. The burden of proof lies entirely with the airline; you need to prove nothing.

What does qualify

The valid cases are scarce and almost always external:

• Extreme weather that genuinely makes flying impossible
• Closed airspace or air traffic control restrictions
• Political unrest or security risks
• A bird strike
• Strikes outside the airline, such as security or air traffic control

What does not qualify

The list of rejection reasons shot down by the courts is longer than the valid list:

• Technical faults, even unexpected ones (Wallentin-Hermann ruling)
• A strike by the airline's own staff
• Crew illness or rostering problems
• The previous flight already being delayed ('rotational delay')
• Ordinary autumn or winter weather other flights simply flew through

Puncturing the weather excuse with METAR

Weather is the favourite excuse because it sounds unverifiable. It is not: every airport publishes an official METAR weather report every half hour with visibility, wind and precipitation.

We put every weather excuse next to the METAR data of exactly that moment at exactly that airport. If other aircraft simply flew and visibility was good, the excuse fails and we push the claim through.