No compensation for technical problem due to hidden design defect on aircraft
You are often entitled to financial compensation if your flight is cancelled. This entitlement does not apply, though, if the flight is cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances. That is, a scenario which is exceptional and unexpected. If the airline cannot do anything about it either, we refer to it as force majeure. Suppose the cancellation of a flight is due to the aircraft having a design defect. Can this be considered force majeure? The Court of Justice responds.
Technical problem
A Finnair flight from Helsinki (Finland) to Bangkok (Thailand) was to fly with an aircraft that was a few months old. The tank was filled just before take-off. It then emerged that there was a technical problem with the fuel gauge. The flight was cancelled. The passengers were rebooked and arrived at their destination twenty hours later.
Request for compensation
One of the passengers on this flight is claiming compensation for the cancellation. Finnair believes no compensation should be paid because it concerns a hidden problem. This is a very new model of aircraft and it is an unknown problem with the fuel gauge. This is the first time this has happened. The aircraft manufacturer later says a hidden design flaw was discovered in all aircraft of that type.
Finnair believes this should be regarded as force majeure. The Finnish judge eventually asked the Court of Justice to adjudicate this case.
Judgement of the Court of Justice
The Finnish judge asked the European Court of Justice whether a design flaw that causes a problem with a new type of aircraft can be regarded as an exceptional circumstance.
According to the Court, an unforeseen and unknown technical problem in a new type of aircraft that has only just been taken into service can be regarded as force majeure. That is the case if the aircraft manufacturer declares that this problem arose due to a hidden design flaw that affects all aircraft of that type and affects flight safety.
Want to know more?
You can read the full ruling in case C-385/23 on the Infocuria website.