Will NATO exercises disrupt European air traffic this June?

NATO's Air Defender maneuver in the skies above Germany is expected to impact European air traffic this June. It is not clear, however, whether it will broadly disrupt air traffic, or merely cause more manageable, regional issues.

Over 200 military aircraft are taking part in the exercise and large areas of German airspace will be temporarily closed to non-military planes.

Travelers who plan on taking a flight between June 12 to 24 should therefore expect delays and even cancellations as the skies over Europe will be busier than usual. "One can expect that the flight paths of civil aircraft will be affected," says Karolina Wojtal of the European Consumer Centre Germany (ECC). "After all, German airspace is already very full, with flights already tightly timed."

EU air passenger rights

Within the EU, air passengers rights are clearly regulated. The so-called Air Passenger Rights Regulation applies to all passengers departing from or landing at EU airports, provided they are flying with an EU-based airline, says Wojtal. Among other things, the regulation entitles air passengers to compensation payments, sometimes up to hundreds of euros, if certain criteria are met.

Travelers can only claim compensation from airlines if they are informed of cancellations or delays less than 14 days before departure. In addition, airlines do not have to pay out if extraordinary circumstances that could have been avoided through reasonable measures cause cancellations or delays. "In our assessment, this NATO exercise is likely to constitute such extraordinary circumstances," says Wojtal.

Paul Degott, a lawyer specialized in air passenger rights, agrees. "NATO's air maneuver will certainly count as an extraordinary circumstance, to which airlines can refer in the event of flight irregularities," he says. "But they will also have to explain how they tried to avoid the flight irregularities or mitigate their impact on passengers."

Lack of global rights

When it comes to flights not covered by the EU Passenger Rights Regulation, matters are less clear, says ECC expert Wojtal. While the Montreal Convention states that airlines are liable for damages caused by delays, it is unclear what this means specifically.

Attorney Degott also points out that airlines are not liable for damage caused by delays when they can prove all reasonable measures were taken to avoid them, or that no such measures were possible. Airlines could refer to the extraordinary circumstances represented by June's NATO maneuver.

To date, only 72% of states have ratified the Montreal Convention, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA). "This has resulted in a patchwork of liability regulations," says IATA. Ultimately, in much of the world, it depends on individual airlines and which regulations they apply in the event of cancellations and delays, Wojtal says. Passengers have no choice but to check airlines' terms and conditions if they want to be sure. "However, a lot of things are settled on a goodwill basis," she says, especially when it comes to drinks and meals and hotel accommodation while waiting for a delayed flight. In the event of cancellations, airlines usually attempt to rebook passengers on other flights, or issue flight vouchers.

Anyone who is considering taking out special travel insurance in case of potential flight delays or cancellation should carefully read the fine print, says Wojtal. Cancellation insurance, for example, does not apply in such exceptional cases.

No flight drills at night or on weekends

Germany's air force, which will lead the major exercise in which 25 NATO member states are participating, says the country's airspace will be divided into three sectors: the eastern airspace will be reserved for military use from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the southern airspace from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and northern airspace from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. No flight drills will occur at night or on weekends.

Dusseldorf Airport, for example, says that it is not yet possible to assess how the exercise will impact air traffic. Simulations by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation indicate that no flight cancellations are expected in the run-up to the maneuver. "However, due to the expected dynamics of this unprecedented large-scale exercise, disruptions at individual airports or flight routes cannot be ruled out," a Dusseldorf Airport spokesperson told DW.

This article was translated from German.