Impact with a foreign object on an airport runway cannot be considered as inherent to the normal exercise of an air carrier's activity and is beyond its effective control, the EU Court of Justice ruled in a judgment delivered on Thursday 4 April (Case C-501/17).
Such an impact can therefore be qualified as an "extraordinary circumstances " within the meaning of the Regulation (261/2004) exempting an air carrier from passenger compensation in the event of denied boarding, cancellation or a long flight delay.
Mr Pauels asked Germanwings for compensation after the arrival of his flight from Dublin to Düsseldorf was delayed for 3 hours and 28 minutes. The airline refused on the grounds that the flight delay was due to damage to an aircraft tyre caused by a screw on the airport runway, which it believed was beyond its control.
Having received a referral from the Regional Court of Cologne, the Court is of the opinion that the failure of a tyre whose exclusive origin lies in the impact with a foreign object present on the airport runway is not inherent, by its nature or origin, in the normal activity of the air carrier. This circumstance is beyond the airline’s effective control, the Court points out, and can therefore be described as an " extraordinary circumstance " within the meaning of the Regulation on passenger rights.
However, Germanwings must also demonstrate that it has used all the personnel, material and financial resources at its disposal to prevent the replacement of the damaged tyre from leading to a significant delay of the flight concerned, the Court determined.
In this respect, the European judge notes that air carriers are able to have tyre replacement contracts at all the airports they serve, ensuring that they receive priority treatment.
See the Court's judgment: https://bit.ly/2UdQdeN (Mathieu Bion)