I recently had a precise 3hr 1min delay on an Easyjet flight from Inverness to Luton, for which I made a claim and was given a final response that this was due to ATC restrictions outside their control, and therefore qualified as extraordinary circumstances, i.e. no compensation payable.

At Inverness Airport, they flirted with the idea of delaying the flight overnight due to it being an evening flight close to Inverness Airport closing time, then they decided to go ahead with it, then got a bit unlucky with delays boarding us from our gate (due to waiting for another Easyjet flight disembarking passengers in our path to our aircraft), then I witnessed the fastest I've ever seen a flight being boarded, closed, taxi'd, safety messages completed, and taken off, and the pilot absolutely "legged" it to try and undercut the 3hr threshold.

Unfortunately for Easyjet, the official arrival time clocked at exactly 3hr 1min late and as it was exhausting waiting so long that late in the evening and having to catch transport into London during the early hours of the morning, I pushed through a claim.

It's now with CEDR...