In short: A bird strike is usually an extraordinary circumstance, so the airline does not have to pay fixed compensation for the delay it genuinely caused. But only the time needed for the necessary checks and repairs counts. Extra checks by the airline's own expert after an authorised expert has already cleared the aircraft, and delays from other causes, do not – and if those add up to 3 hours or more at arrival, you can still claim €250–€600 (EU261) or £220–£520 (UK261).
The leading case: Pešková and Peška (C-315/15)
Ms Pešková and Mr Peška booked a Travel Service flight from Burgas in Bulgaria to Ostrava in the Czech Republic. The aircraft was flying a circuit of Prague – Burgas – Brno – Burgas – Ostrava that day. On the Prague–Burgas leg a faulty valve took 1 hour 45 minutes to repair. When the aircraft landed in Brno it hit a bird; checks found no damage, but the airline flew in its own technician by private aircraft to put the aircraft back into service. The passengers' flight arrived late, and they each claimed around €250.
The Court of Justice answered four questions in its judgment of 4 May 2017:
- A collision between an aircraft and a bird is an extraordinary circumstance. It is not intrinsically linked to the operation of the aircraft and is outside the airline's control.
- Extra checks are the airline's own choice. A delay caused by the airline using an expert of its choice to carry out fresh safety checks, after an expert authorised under the applicable rules has already carried them out, is not due to extraordinary circumstances.
- Reasonable measures include bird-control measures – if the airline can actually take them at a technical and administrative level, they do not require intolerable sacrifices, and the airline shows they were actually taken for the flight concerned.
- Mixed causes are split. Where a delay of 3 hours or more is caused partly by an extraordinary circumstance and partly by other events, the delay caused by the extraordinary event is deducted from the total. If the remaining delay still reaches 3 hours, compensation is due.
The fourth point is relevant far beyond bird strikes. It is the reason a valve repair and a bird strike on the same day are assessed separately: the valve repair, a technical fault, is the airline's responsibility.
Is it extraordinary? Bird strike scenarios
| Scenario | Extraordinary? | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Bird strike on take-off or landing, followed by mandatory checks | Usually yes | C-315/15, ruling 1 |
| Bird strike with no damage found | Usually yes | Commission guidelines 2024, citing Pešková |
| Take-off aborted after a bird strike, damaging the tyres in emergency braking | Usually yes | Commission guidelines 2024, section 5.2.3(a) |
| Repeat checks by the airline's own engineer after an authorised check | No | C-315/15, ruling 2 |
| Bird strike plus a separate technical, crew or turnaround delay | Partly | C-315/15, ruling 4 |
| Bird strike on an earlier flight of the same aircraft | Depends | Direct causal link required (C-74/19) |
UK consumer guidance takes the same view on the basic point: Which? lists bird strikes among the events that count as extraordinary. Because Pešková was decided in 2017, it remains part of how UK courts read UK261.
What "reasonable measures" means after a bird strike
The airline cannot prevent every bird strike, but the Court expects it to do what it realistically can, both before and after:
- Before: bird-control measures that can actually be the airline's responsibility. The Court noted that such measures may fall to airlines, airport managers or air traffic controllers, and said only those that are the airline's own responsibility count – not those of airport managers or air traffic control.
- After: carry out the required inspection promptly, using an authorised expert who is available, rather than adding further checks of its own choosing; repair the aircraft or bring in a spare aircraft if one is reasonably available; and re-route passengers on the earliest suitable flight, including another airline's, if the delay becomes long (C-74/19).
The general standard comes from Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07): the airline must show that, deploying all its resources in staff, equipment and finance, it clearly could not have avoided the delay without intolerable sacrifices.
What the airline must prove
- That a bird strike happened – when, where and on which flight (normally from the technical log or an incident report).
- That it caused your delay, and how much of it.
- What inspection was required, who carried it out and how long it took.
- What it did to limit the delay – spare aircraft, re-routing – and, where relevant, the prevention measures it took.
What you can do
- Ask for the timeline in writing: when the bird strike happened, when the inspection started and finished, and when the aircraft was released.
- Check the flight history. Flight-tracking sites show the aircraft's earlier flights and when it finally departed. Large gaps after the inspection point to other causes.
- Subtract the bird-strike time. If the rest of the delay is still 3 hours or more at arrival, claim it.
- Escalate if the airline will not provide the timeline – to the national enforcement body or ADR body of the country where the incident happened for EU, EEA and Swiss flights (see where to complain and our country guides, for example Germany, Spain, France or Italy), or ADR or the CAA for UK flights – see how to claim and our case law library.
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Frequently asked questions
Is a bird strike always an extraordinary circumstance?
A collision with a bird is classified as an extraordinary circumstance (C-315/15 Pešková). But that does not automatically mean no compensation. The airline must also show that it took the reasonable measures available to it and that the bird strike, rather than something else, caused the delay. Any part of the delay caused by other factors still counts towards the 3 hours.
The aircraft was checked after the bird strike and no damage was found. Does it still count?
Yes. According to the European Commission's 2024 guidelines, the Court has made clear it does not matter whether the collision actually damaged the aircraft: airlines should not be encouraged to skip safety checks to keep to the timetable.
The airline flew in its own engineer to re-check the aircraft, which added hours. Is that covered?
No. In Pešková the Court held that a delay caused by the airline using an expert of its choice to carry out fresh safety checks, after checks had already been done by an authorised expert, is not due to extraordinary circumstances.
The bird strike happened on an earlier flight of the same aircraft. Can the airline rely on it?
Possibly, if there is a direct causal link between that bird strike and your delay (C-74/19). The airline must still show it did what it reasonably could to stop the delay spreading. See knock-on delays.
Do I still get meals and a hotel?
Yes. Care is owed during the delay whatever its cause, and for a cancellation you can choose a refund or re-routing.
General information, not legal advice. We are an independent guide, not lawyers and not AirHelp.
Sources
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – recital 14 (as adopted) – legislation.gov.uk
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 – Article 5 (as adopted) – legislation.gov.uk
- C-315/15 Pešková and Peška v Travel Service, judgment of 4 May 2017 – Court of Justice of the EU
- C-549/07 Wallentin-Hermann, judgment of 22 December 2008 – Court of Justice of the EU
- C-74/19 Transportes Aéreos Portugueses, judgment of 11 June 2020 – Court of Justice of the EU
- Interpretative Guidelines on Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (C/2024/5687), section 5.2.3(a) – European Commission, Official Journal
- Your flight compensation rights in extraordinary circumstances – Which?
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