Norse-kunde Lene har ventet i tre år på erstatning

Norse-kunde Lene Hordnes has been waiting for compensation for three years after a flight delay in 2023. The incident occurred when her family was flying from Florida to Norway for the Norway Cup. As the plane was moving onto the runway, it collided with a obstruction on the taxiway, resulting in damage to one of its wings. This led to a significant delay, forcing the family to stay at a hotel for several hours while waiting for information from Norse. The family missed their chance to meet relatives from Tromsø.

Lene Hordnes, 46, expressed her frustration to E24, saying that the extra stay was filled with long days of uncertainty in the airport, with check-ins and check-outs, and nights spent in single beds due to unmet hotel reservations. The worst part, however, was the follow-up. As the delay surpassed three hours, she was entitled to compensation, unless the airline could prove that the cause was "extraordinary circumstances that could not have been avoided."

Hordnes claims she asked Norse for compensation but was denied. She then turned to Transportklagenemnda, which recommended a compensation of 600 euros per person, totaling 2,400 euros or approximately 26,000 kroner. She has yet to receive the payment, stating that she has sent the claim to Norse three times and requested a response, but has received no reply.

Hordnes is now using Flyhjelp service in hopes of resolving the issue, although she notes that this service takes a significant portion of what Norse would have paid out. She expressed her disappointment with the experience, stating that justice should be served and has instructed Norse that she will not be using their services again.

E24 reported last summer that Norse had a significant backlog of complaint handling cases, with 625 compensation claims pending payment as of early August. After 2025, the airline faced significant delays, and despite increased customer service staff, the financial department did not receive the same level of reinforcement. This new bottleneck in the company's operations has led to delays in resolving customer issues.

Norse's commercial director, Frans Leenaars, acknowledged in an email to E24 that the Lene Hordnes case was not properly addressed when they handled older cases earlier in the year. He apologized for the inconvenience caused to passengers and stated that the company would comply with the Transportklagenemnda's recommendation and issue the compensation of 2,400 euros to Hordnes.

Leenaars emphasized that they have made significant improvements in handling customer claims and that their current processes are significantly different from those in place when this incident occurred.