PASSENGERS whose flights are delayed by bird strikes will be allowed to claim compensation from airlines in the latest legal blow to the industry.

A judge at Manchester County Court ruled that bird strikes do not count as an "extraordinary circumstance" which would exempt airlines from paying flight delay compensation, in line with EU law.

The decision was handed down after passenger Timothy Ash took Thomas Cook Airlines to court over a more than five hour delay on a flight from Antalya to Manchester in 2011.

District Judge Iyer ruled in favour of Mr Ash and others, ordering the holiday company to pay the group of four passengers €1600 (approximately £310 each).

He said: "For my part I observe that the word used is "extraordinary" rather than "unexpected", "unforeseeable", "unusual" or even "rare". Extraordinary to me conotes something beyond unusual.

"A motorway collision between two cars on a motorway is unusual but not extraordinary, whereas a motorway collision between a car, and say, a horse would be extraordinary.

"Bird strikes happen every day, in fact many times a day, and would hardly be worthy of comment but for the delay which they cause.

"They do not fall within the same category as a motorway collision between a car and my previous example of a horse, which would be extraordinary, for the simple reason that our skies are populated with birds, whereas our roads are not populated with horses."

Mr Ash, who was travelling with his wife, daughter and son when they suffered the delay, said he was relieved by the ruling.

He added: "I had my disabled son with me at the time of the delay and it turned into a really arduous experience that could have been avoided."

Under EU law, passengers who arrive at their final destination three or more hours late can claim up to €600, as long as their delay was not caused by "extraordinary circumstances" including terrorism, extreme weather or industrial action.

However, a landmark court ruling last year threw out "technical problems" as a legitimate excuse for airlines to avoid paying out - handing the industry a potential bill of £750m a year.