From June to August, approximately 2000 flights departing from Norway’s airports, were significantly delayed or canceled, accounting for 1.4% of all departures, data from flight compensation management company Skycop suggests. The total potential compensation for passengers on these flights amounts to at least €50 million.
Based on a conservative estimate of 100 passengers per flight and the minimum compensation of €250 for significant disruptions, airlines owe Norwegian travelers at least €50 million in compensation during the holiday season alone.
Skycop also highlights that these figures reflect only flights departing from Norway. Passengers could be entitled to 2-3 times more in compensation for disruptions on return flights from abroad. Norway performs rather well in Europe in terms of low flight disruption rates, with 1.4% this summer. In comparison, around 1.5% of flights departing from Spain were eligible for compensation, while nearly 2% of flights from both France and Italy qualified. Last summer, Norway had a 1.3% share of disrupted flights that qualified for compensation.
When it comes to particular airports, Oslo International had a 1.2% disruption rate this summer, Bergen stood at 1.8%, while Trondheim and Stavanger both had around a 1.5% rate of significantly disrupted or canceled flights. Among larger Norwegian airports, Tromsø had the lowest disruption rate of 0.6% between June and August.
According to Skycop’s lawyer Nerijus Zaleckas, airlines continue to make little effort to inform passengers about their entitlement to compensation or offer it voluntarily. As a result, passengers seeking to recover the money owed to them are forced to navigate deliberately complicated processes on airline websites or turn to compensation management companies to simplify the challenge.
“There is no high-quality data on the actual percentage of passengers who claim compensation, but from experience and conversations with industry players, we estimate that only up to a third of affected travelers seek compensation from airlines or intermediaries. In other words, this summer alone, Norwegians will possibly be leaving millions of euros rightfully owed to them with the airlines. I urge travelers to exercise their rights: the so-called EU261 mechanism was introduced in Europe to compensate passengers for inconveniences and to encourage airlines to improve their performance,” says N. Zaleckas.
Although Norway is not an EU member, it is covered by the EU261 regulation. Under the EU261 regulation, compensation for significant delays applies to departures from EU airports (regardless of the airline’s country of origin) and to arrivals at EU airports on EU-registered airlines. If the flight arrives at its final destination more than three hours late, passengers are entitled to compensation of between €250 and €600, depending on the flight distance. Passengers are also entitled to compensation for canceled flights, unexpected transport or accommodation expenses, lost baggage, and various other scenarios.
Skycop assesses the share of flights eligible for compensation using its own data, as well as public and non-public market analytics. The company notes that data on the most punctual or frequently delayed airlines and airports, often seen on the internet, typically includes even minor delays of less than three hours, which do not qualify for compensation.
Skycop is a major European flight compensation management company founded in 2017. The company is headquartered in Vilnius, Lithuania, and operates internationally.