[2024] UKSC 24 · 2024 · UK 261
Lipton and another v BA Cityflyer Ltd
The UK Supreme Court held in July 2024 that a captain's absence through illness shortly before a flight is not an extraordinary circumstance: crew sickness is part of running an airline. The Court also held that causes of action which accrued before the end of the Brexit transition survive as retained EU law under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
REVIEWED AGAINST RULE SET V6 AND THE CITED PRIMARY SOURCES · UPDATED 7 AUGUST 2026
- COURT
- Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
- CASE NUMBER
- [2024] UKSC 24
- JUDGMENT
- 10 July 2024
- CITATION
- [2024] UKSC 24
What the case was about
A BA Cityflyer service from Milan to London City was cancelled in January 2018 after the captain reported sick while off duty.
The airline argued the illness was an external event, and the case ran through the county court and the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.
What it changed
- It is the leading UK authority on crew sickness, and it lands on the passenger's side.
- It settled how UK courts handle claims that straddle Brexit: the pre exit version of the regulation and the CJEU case law that interpreted it continue to apply to those accrued claims.
- For UK departures the sterling amounts introduced by SI 2019/278 apply to flights after the transition, while the analysis of extraordinary circumstances is unchanged.
SOURCES
- Lipton and another v BA Cityflyer Ltd [2024] UKSC 24, judgment of 10 July 2024 · The National Archives (Find Case Law) · checked 7 August 2026
- The Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/278), reg. 8 · legislation.gov.uk · checked 7 August 2026