Airlines face glut of claims after European ruling

Airlines are bracing themselves for meeting a large number of compensation claims from passengers who have suffered cancelled flights due to "technical reasons", following a European Court ruling.

Lawyers representing aggrieved passengers are hailing the ruling as a landmark because it largely removes the ability of airlines to routinely cite "extraordinary circumstances" as a reason for refusing even small compensation claims.

British Airways has confirmed that, as a result, it has now settled a small number of claims from passengers who took legal action over delayed or cancelled flights. The settlements are believed to average £388 for each passenger.

Lavelle Coleman, a Dublin-based legal firm which brought the actions, said today it was pursuing at least 50 further similar claims by disgruntled BA passengers – although in many cases the airline was citing staff shortages or plane locations as reasons for the cancellations, points not covered by the ruling.

The European Court of Justice ruling, published just before Christmas, applies to all European airlines and relates to a claim against Alitalia by an Austrian family over a flight between Vienna and Brindisi, cancelled five minutes before departure because of a defect discovered in the engine turbine the previous day.

The airline rejected the claim for compensation of 260 (£235) under the clause which allowed it to claim the cancellation was caused "by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken".

However, the court ruled: "Technical problems which come to light during maintenance of aircraft or on account of failure to carry out such maintenance do not constitute, in themselves, extraordinary circumstances'."

Only events out of the control of the airline, such as the discovery of a manufacturers' defect or acts of sabotage or terrorism, would enable the clause to be invoked in the future, the court said. The onus was now on the airlines themselves, said the court, to prove that, even if they had done everything within their powers, they would not have been able to prevent the "extraordinary circumstances" from occurring.

A BA spokesman said: "We continue to comply with the relevant European legislation and will always look at each claim that is made against us on its individual merits."

It remains unclear whether the European ruling has implications for any passengers who have not yet made claims over the chaos at Heathrow's Terminal 5 following its opening last year, which resulted in many flights being delayed or cancelled.

The BA spokesman said it had already settled a "significant number" of compensation claims but was not aware of any more in the pipeline.