Bordeaux Mérignac delays on Friday, 6 March 2020
Eurocontrol logged 1,052 minutes of air-traffic arrival delay at Bordeaux Mérignac that day across 17 arrivals held 15 minutes or more out of 103 (17% of the day's arrivals), with 100% of the delay attributed to industrial action (atc). That makes it the 31st worst day at Bordeaux Mérignac since January 2019.
Eurocontrol record · LFBD · 2020-03-06
Delay codes are Eurocontrol's IATA-standard causes. 100% of this day's delay sits in categories airlines usually plead as extraordinary circumstances.
Were you on a flight that day?
What this means if your flight was late
Under UK261 and EU261 you are owed £220, £350 or £520 (or €250, €400, €600) per passenger for arriving three hours or more late, unless the airline proves extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided even with all reasonable measures. Airport-wide records like this one are the airline's favourite evidence, and they cut both ways.
- Expect the airline to cite industrial action (atc). That is a real argument on this day, but it only covers delay actually caused by it. The airline must show the link to your flight and that it had reserve time and spare aircraft in place (Eglītis v Air Baltic). A flight that left late because the inbound aircraft was stuck on a technical fault is compensable whatever the weather did.
- Cancelled that day? Compensation depends on notice: under 14 days and no close re-routing means it is due, subject to the same extraordinary-circumstances test. You are always owed a refund or re-routing and care while you wait.
- Delayed under three hours? No fixed compensation, but food, drink and communications were owed after two hours on a short flight, and reasonable expenses are recoverable.
The free check pulls your flight's own record (actual arrival time against schedule) and pairs it with this day's data, so the verdict and the letter are specific to your flight, not to the airport.
Other airports the same day
| Paris Orly | 3,232 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| Lisbon | 915 min | Airspace management |
| Bâle Mulhouse | 847 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| Madrid Barajas | 687 min | ATC capacity |
| Brussels | 364 min | Special event |
| Nantes Atlantique | 336 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| Amsterdam Schiphol | 256 min | Aerodrome capacity |
| Toulouse Blagnac | 251 min | Special event |
| Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International | 244 min | Aerodrome capacity |
Other bad days at Bordeaux Mérignac
| 8 March 2020 | 4,190 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| 22 March 2023 | 2,860 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| 26 May 2024 | 2,211 min | ATC staffing |
| 14 January 2024 | 2,205 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| 24 January 2020 | 2,078 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
| 29 September 2024 | 1,951 min | ATC staffing |
| 10 May 2026 | 1,777 min | ATC capacity |
| 24 March 2023 | 1,775 min | Industrial action (ATC) |
Questions
My flight from Bordeaux Mérignac on 6 March 2020 was delayed. Can I claim compensation?
If you arrived at your final destination 3 hours or more late, the starting position is £220 to £520 per passenger depending on distance. The airline can refuse only by proving extraordinary circumstances that affected your specific flight. On this day Eurocontrol attributed 100% of Bordeaux Mérignac's air-traffic delay to industrial action (atc), so expect that argument; it still has to be linked to your flight. Run the free check on your flight number for the verified answer.
Was the Bordeaux Mérignac disruption on 6 March 2020 caused by weather?
No. Eurocontrol logged no weather-coded delay at Bordeaux Mérignac on this day; the delay was attributed to industrial action (atc).
Does a bad day at Bordeaux Mérignac mean every delayed flight is exempt from compensation?
No. Air-traffic delay attributed to an airport explains some of the day's lateness, not all of it, and it is the airline that must prove your flight's delay was caused by it and could not have been avoided with reasonable measures such as schedule buffers and spare aircraft. Flights delayed by a technical fault, crew shortage or a late inbound aircraft from an unaffected airport are compensable regardless of what happened at Bordeaux Mérignac.
Sources: Eurocontrol Performance Review Unit, airport arrival ATFM delay by cause (daily); METAR observations via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet archive. This page describes the airport's day; your flight's own record decides your claim. All Bordeaux Mérignac delay days.