Airlines can be exempted from compensation payments to passengers in the event of a puncture, according to an important ECJ expert.
If tires were damaged by bolts on the runway, for example, this was an "exceptional circumstance" that might exempt the airline from its duty to pay, explained Advocate General Evgeni Tanchev in Luxembourg (Case C 501/17).
Such mishaps are unpredictable, he continued. They are not part of the normal airline operation. Usually passengers in the EU are entitled to compensation for cancellations or serious delays.
Background is the legal dispute of a German passenger with the airline German Wings. The traveler had demanded compensation after his flight from Dublin to Dusseldorf was delayed by more than three hours. The delay was due to screws on the runway, which damaged a tire of the aircraft, after which it was replaced.
Germanwings referred to "extraordinary circumstances" and refused to pay. The district court of Cologne had referred the case to Luxembourg. According to the expert, however, the district court has to examine whether the airline was able to avoid the damage with "reasonable measures".
Often, the ECJ judges follow the Advocate General's assessment. A verdict is likely to fall in the coming months.
Only recently had the district court Hanover ruled in a similar case. Since an aircraft tire was damaged because of an object on the runway, a passenger from Hanover landed only with 18-hour delay on Tenerife. The judges did not consider the breakdown to be an exceptional circumstance and gave the customer the right.