THE SHORT VERSION
✓"Extraordinary" means outside the airline's control and unavoidable. Both, not either.
✓Technical faults, crew shortages, and strikes by the airline's own staff generally do not qualify.
✓The airline has to prove the circumstance. You don't have to disprove it.
What the law actually says
Article 5(3) of EC 261 lets an airline off the hook only when a disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. That sentence carries two separate tests, and the airline must pass both.
First, the event has to be outside the normal exercise of running an airline. Second, even then, the airline must show it did everything reasonably possible to avoid the disruption: rebooking, spare aircraft, earlier crews. Courts read both tests narrowly, because the regulation exists to protect you, not the carrier.
What genuinely counts
A short list, honestly applied:
- Weather severe enough to close the airport or ground that aircraft type, not "it was cloudy."
- Air traffic control restrictions and airspace closures.
- Political instability or security risks at the origin or destination.
- Bird strikes and hidden manufacturing defects flagged by the manufacturer.
- Strikes by third parties: airport staff, ATC, ground handlers the airline doesn't employ.
What doesn't count
This is where most rejection letters fall apart. The European Court of Justice has ruled, case by case, that the ordinary risks of running an airline stay with the airline:
How airlines misuse it
A familiar pattern: a blanket "adverse weather conditions" letter, sent while other flights departed the same airport, on the same route, within the same hour. Weather somewhere in the network is not weather on your flight.
The second pattern is vagueness: "operational reasons," "circumstances beyond our control," no specifics. That's not a defence, it's a form letter. The burden of proof sits entirely with the airline. If they can't name and evidence the circumstance, the claim stands.
How we check their story
Before the demand goes out, our team reviews each claim and the airline's stated reason. If the reason doesn't hold up, we say so and challenge it. An "extraordinary circumstances" letter that ends a solo claim is often just the starting point of ours.
What you should do
- Don't take the rejection letter at face value. It's an opening position, not a verdict.
- Keep everything: boarding passes, the airline's stated reason, receipts for meals and hotels.
- Ask the airline in writing for the specific circumstance. Vague answers help your case.
- Check your flight. The check is free and doesn't start a claim.