Virgin Atlantic has paid out £47,600 to 101 passengers who were delayed in 2012 for 26-hours on a flight to the US.
The payout follows the landmark Huzar v Jet2 ruling at the Court of Appeal last month.
The court ruled that ordinary technical problems that cause flight disruption, such as component failure and general wear and tear, should not be considered “extraordinary circumstances”.
According to the MailOnline the passengers on the Virgin flight were delayed when their flight from Orlando, Florida to London Gatwick in October 2012 developed a fault.
The group then contacted the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and was told they had a valid claim for compensation under EU Regulation 261 but was later told that their flight did not in fact qualify for this compensation.
The passengers then contacted specialist flight delay law firm Bott & Co in November 2013, which issued group proceedings
The decision was delayed pending the outcome of the Huzar v Jet2 case, in which passenger Ron Huzar took the airline to court to claim compensation for a delayed flight from Manchester to Malaga in 2011.
Kevin Clarke, aviation lawyer at Bott & Co, said: “We are delighted to have been able to reach a settlement for these passengers.
“Since winning the case for our client Mr Huzar, we have seen a general trend towards airlines settling claims that have been on hold for months.
“This is great news for consumers and we hope this signals the dawn of a new era of a much easier and smoother process for claiming flight delay compensation.’
A Virgin Atlantic spokesman said: “As a gesture of goodwill Virgin Atlantic has settled some existing court cases that were previously stayed pending the Court of Appeal decision in Huzar.
“Going forward, the lasting impact of the Huzar decision on new cases remains uncertain and we are continuing to monitor developments in this area closely.”