Compensation Clinic: Norwegian Flight Delay & EC 261/2004

A friend was seeking my advice a few months ago due to a delayed Norwegian flight from Stockholm to Helsinki on June 22, 2015.

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Here’s what happened:

My friend’s flight from Stockholm to Helsinki back in June 22, 2015, was delayed by six hours according to him. I told him to contact Norwegian and request 250 Euros as a compensation due to the delay.

Community carriers (EU + Norway, Iceland + Switzerland) + flights from other airlines that are departing from the area are required to provide care and offer cash compensation that varies depending on the flight length and delay. Norwegian could have also booked him on Finnair or SAS, but I guess that they didn’t offer this option.

Here’s the reply from Norwegian that came past week by email:

We have now effectuated payment of EUR 250 to the earlier stated account number. The money should be accessible in your account within 2-3 weeks. We apologize for the long processing time, and we thank you for your patience. Have a nice day. Med vennlig hilsen/Kind regards, Trine, Customer Relations Norwegian Air Shuttle Phone: +47 815 21 815 Oksenøyveien 10A, 1330 Fornebu, Norway

Conclusion

I was surprised that Norwegian was willing to fork out the payment without having to escalate the issue to a national enforcement body.

The airline has had huge issues with some of its long-haul flights that have occasionally been delayed by a day or longer (each passenger would have been eligible for 600 Euros compensation per the EC 261/2004 law).