When flights are delayed or forced to be rerouted due to disruptive passengers, airlines often cite ”extraordinary circumstances” to avoid paying compensation. But according to lawyers at AirAdvisor, it’s far from obvious that this exception applies.
During the summer peak season, the number of incidents on board increases as air traffic becomes more intense. According to the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), an incident involving a disruptive or aggressive passenger on a flight within the EU occurs approximately every three hours, and in around 70 percent of cases, some form of physical or verbal violence occurs.
The problem is also recurring in Sweden. The Swedish Transport Agency registered 340 incidents with disruptive passengers in 2025, after 503 cases the year before.
Airlines must be able to prove
According to the EU Air Passenger Regulation EU261, travelers are entitled to up to 600 euros in compensation for longer delays or canceled flights, unless the airline can prove that the incident is due to extraordinary circumstances.
But a disruptive passenger does not automatically mean that liability for compensation disappears, according to AirAdvisor.
– Airlines sometimes seem to treat ”disruptive passenger” as a password that automatically exempts them from liability for compensation. That’s not how EU261 works, says Anton Radchenko, aviation lawyer and CEO of AirAdvisor.
For the exception to apply, the airline must be able to show, among other things, that the event was unforeseeable, that it directly caused the delay and that the company took all reasonable measures to limit the consequences.
For example, if the ground staff discovered before boarding that a passenger was heavily intoxicated or aggressive but still allowed the person to board, the airline may find it difficult to claim that the situation was unforeseeable.
Advice for travelers
AirAdvisor urges travelers who experience delays to request a written explanation of the cause, document the actual delay, and save receipts for food, transportation, and any hotel expenses.
According to the company, travelers should also not accept travel vouchers before checking whether they are instead entitled to cash compensation according to EU261.
Source: AirAdvisor
