– I have great understanding for all passengers who are now frustrated by the long wait to get a refund of tickets. In my dialogue with the airlines, I have been clear that consumer rights are firm and that it is important for all parties that reimbursement takes place quickly.
It writes Minister of Transport Knut Arild Hareide (KrF) in a recent answer to a written question from Storting representative Hans Andreas Limi (Frp).
Limi wondered if Hareide would set a date for when airlines have to reimburse consumers for canceled flights.
The corona pandemic and travel restrictions have led to canceled flights worldwide. Norwegian customers are entitled to a refund within seven days after the flight is canceled. Nevertheless, many customers have been waiting for months for this during the corona crisis.
The Consumer Council has been strongly critical of this. It has previously reprimanded the airlines for making it unnecessarily difficult to get your money back. After SAS announced at the end of August that they expect to have refunded customers by New Year, the Consumer Council’s director Inger Lise Blyverket called it “Completely unacceptable”.
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– Threat of financial sanction may be necessary
There are differences between the three major Norwegian airlines, according to Minister of Transport Hareide.
While Widerøe has stated that all claims for reimbursement will be completed by the end of September, and Norwegian has used resources to automate processing of the requirements and stated that the goal is to be updated by the end of October the situation for SAS is more complex.
Minister of Transport and Communications Knut Arild Hareide (KrF) warns that if SAS does not increase its reimbursement rate, fines may apply. (Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB)
– The Civil Aviation Authority’s preliminary assessment is that the pace of SAS’s plan to keep up to date is not acceptable. The audit is open to SAS having a somewhat higher proportion of «complicated» claims than the other two companies, but finds it difficult to see why more claims cannot be processed automatically, and thus faster. If SAS does not increase its reimbursement rate, the Civil Aviation Authority believes that a formal order with the threat of a financial sanction may be necessary, Hareide writes.
New meeting with the Civil Aviation Authority
SAS’s press manager John Eckhoff tells DN that they will meet with the Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday this week to discuss the situation and come up with a progress plan so that everyone will be reimbursed and get what they are entitled to.
Luftfartstilsynet enforces the regulations that give air passengers the right to a cash refund after canceled flights.
– It is the authorities’ advice on the introduction of travel restrictions that has led to a large number of cancellations that have affected many, and at the same time they demand fast repayments of refunds for many millions of kroner, says Eckhoff.
Hareide also mentions Thursday’s meeting between SAS and the Civil Aviation Authority in its written answer.
– I expect that there will be a conclusion about SAS ‘further progress soon after this meeting, he writes. (Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and / or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using a link, which leads directly to our pages. Copying or other form of use of all or part of the content, can only take place with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms look here.
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