At the beginning of October, Siv-Hilde Lillehaug (59) and her husband Geir traveled to Nice in France.
The couple run the famous Lofotmat restaurant in Henningsvær, and in the off-season they usually take an inspiring trip to a place in Europe.
The day after the couple arrived in the French coastal town, the 59-year-old fell off a flight of stairs and broke his knee. Still has chosen to continue the holiday in France as planned.
It was the local paper The Lofoten post office who first mentioned the matter.
SKINNE: The holiday started brutally for Siv-Hilde Lillehaug, who fell down a flight of stairs and broke her knee.
sea View
I have not found a place
Before the return voyage, the Lofoten seafarer contacted his insurance company and received good help. Before departure, a taxi with extra comfort was booked to the airport, an extra seat on the plane to support her leg, a front row seat and priority boarding.
When the couple arrived at Nice airport and were about to check in, Lillehaug says she asked if an extra seat was booked for her leg.
– I got the answer that it was, he says.
But not long after the couple boarded the plane, a passenger arrived who was assigned the seat the insurance company was supposed to book for Lillehaug.
– I said it couldn’t be true and showed confirmation that an extra seat was booked for my leg, he says.
Lillehaug refers to the other passenger as “very on the supply side”. The person must have said that he could sit somewhere else on the plane, but that it was not clear where and if there were more free seats.
Eventually, “full boarding” was announced and it became clear that there was room a little further back in the plane. But at the same time that the other passenger was waiting to go back, according to Lillehaug, three other passengers boarded the plane. These have obtained the last places available.
In flight drama: – I thought I was dying
– Absolutely awful
Therefore, the seat between Lillehaug and her husband was the only remaining vacancy. Lillehaug, who couldn’t bend his leg, says it depended on an extra seat.
But for everyone to get on the plane, Lillehaug’s only solution was to put the sprained leg above her husband’s knee.
– But in the end I realized that I couldn’t sit like that, and so I had to sit on the floor, he explains.
The cabin crew would tell Lillehaug that because they had not registered in the original booking and the seat booked by the insurance company, the only seat would be listed as free in Norwegian’s systems.
– But I didn’t register, people did at the airport, says the 59-year-old.
FULL: Siv-Hilde Lillehaug didn’t get the place the insurance company had reserved for her leg. Therefore, she had to try to put her leg on her husband’s knee. Photo: private
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Lillehaug says the rest of the trip was neglected by the cabin crew.
– Not once did they come to ask me if I was okay or if I needed anything.
– It was absolutely horrible. It was painful and humiliating, she says.
– You don’t recognize yourself
Norwegian says they think it’s sad to know the flight was painful for Siv-Hilde and she didn’t feel well looked after.
– We have been in contact with our colleagues who worked on board this flight. They do not recognize each other in the description of the situation, but apologize for any misunderstandings that have arisen between them and her, writes the Norwegian communications director, Grete Kruse Roald, in an email to Dagbladet.
Norwegian states that there must have been a misunderstanding at check-in and points out that when people do not check in at all seats on their reservation, they will be listed as complimentary in Norwegian’s system. They believe this explains why a seat for Siv-Hilde Lillehaug was assigned to another passenger.
– At check-in, however, the customer and her husband unfortunately only checked in with the original booking number and thus received one seat each and not three seats, which they should have had, which is also clearly marked on the boarding pass that was given to him. Unfortunately, this misunderstanding wasn’t discovered until Lillehaug was on the plane.
I dialogue
Lillehaug calls flying “the worst of my life”. Back in Lofoten, she emailed Norwegian where she described how she experienced the in-flight treatment.
He shouldn’t have received a reply until reporter i The Lofoten post office made contact.
– Then I get an offer of “generous” 500 cash from Norwegian. I politely declined it as I have no plans to travel with them again.
Norwegian says its customer center is talking with the passenger to find a fee it deems sufficient.
