Conor Askins, discusses a Regulation UK261 claim which Travlaw recently defended. Travlaw were acting on behalf of Norse Atlantic Airways after a passenger brought flight claim after a bird strike caused a delay of approximately 20 hours!
At first glance, a delay of that length might appear difficult to defend. However, as this case demonstrates, the length of the delay is only part of the story…
The flight disruption stemmed from a bird strike affecting the aircraft on the previous day’s rotation. As many in the travel industry may know, there is little controversy around the proposition that a bird strike can amount to an extraordinary circumstance. The more difficult question is often whether the airline took all reasonable measures to avoid or minimise the resulting delay. That was precisely the issue before District Judge Gribble at Sunderland County Court.
The airline’s evidence explained that a replacement part had to be sourced and transported from Amsterdam by a third-party carrier. By the time repairs were completed, the operating crew had exceeded their maximum permitted duty hours. The Court also accepted that there was no spare crew available at Manchester and no alternative aircraft available to operate the flight.
The Judge concluded that the airline had “reasonably tried to rectify the situation” and dismissed the claim.
Perhaps the most interesting takeaway is not the finding that a bird strike is an extraordinary circumstance. It is the Court’s approach to whether an airline has taken reasonable measures or not.
Claimants will often argue that airlines should have deployed reserve crew, sourced replacement aircraft, rerouted passengers or otherwise taken additional steps. Whilst those arguments will depend on the facts of each case, this decision is a useful reminder that airlines are not required to do the impossible. They are required to provide a coherent and evidenced explanation of the measures available to them and why those measures were either taken or not realistically available.
In this case, that explanation was enough.
Or, to put it another way, sometimes a small bird can create a very large operational problem. The key is being able to explain to the Court exactly what happened next.
Travlaw acted on behalf of Norse Atlantic Airways, Kyrylo Lodge was the file hander at Travlaw. Advocacy was provided by Adam Mugliston of Dere Street Barristers. The claim was dismissed in its entirety.
If you are dealing with UK261 claims and would like a chat, please contact our litigation team at advice@travlaw.co.uk
This article was originally published on: 27 October 2026
