1. Where an aircraft operator cannot provide verified tonne-kilometre data to the competent authority by the relevant deadline pursuant to Article 3e(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC because of serious and unforeseeable circumstances outside of its control, that aircraft operator shall submit to the competent authority, for the purposes of that provision, the best tonne-kilometre data that can be made available given the circumstances, including data based, where necessary, on credible estimates.

2. Where the conditions set out in paragraph 1 are met, the Member State shall, for the purposes of the application referred to in Article 3e(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC and in accordance with paragraph 2 of that Article, submit the data received in respect of the aircraft operator concerned, together with an explanation of the circumstances that led to the absence of a report verified in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 600/2012, to the Commission.

The Commission and the Member States shall use those data for the purposes of Article 3e(3) and (4) of Directive 2003/87/EC.

3. Where the Member State submits data received in respect of an aircraft operator to the Commission pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article, the aircraft operator concerned shall ensure a verification of the submitted tonne-kilometre data in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 600/2012 as soon as possible and, in any case, upon termination of the circumstances referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

The aircraft operator shall, without undue delay, submit the verified data to the competent authority.