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The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority has grown weary of airlines failing to refund tickets for canceled flights in connection with the corona pandemic. Now supervision hits with fines.
Widerøe is in port with a refund for passengers, while Norwegian expects them to get it done by the end of October, with SAS it’s worse.
SAS has several hundred thousand claims that have not yet been processed and to the Civil Aviation Authority they state that the company does not expect to be up to date with refunds before the end of the year.
Hit SAS harder
The Civil Aviation Authority imposes monthly fines on SAS if they cannot refund tickets on time
Photo: Civil Aviation Authority
SAS has a deadline of the end of November to reimburse all claims.
– If SAS does not meet this deadline, a penalty of one million crowns per year will be charged. month from December 1 inclusive. This is what Lars Kobberstad, CEO of the Civil Aviation Authority, tells NRK.
If the order is not fulfilled by February 2021, the Civil Aviation Authority will consider whether the monthly amount should be increased. Coercive fines will also be considered for the other companies if they do not follow the schedule they have drawn up for the Civil Aviation Authority.
However, the Civil Aviation Authority will monitor the two companies that will not be fined immediately.
Kobberstad notes that the Civil Aviation Authority has had a close and good dialogue with the airlines, and will continue to do so until the situation is resolved. – We experience that there has been a positive development in the way airlines have prioritized this, after we brought this up to them before the summer break. It’s taken a long time and now is the time to qualify, so we set a deadline, he says.
More automation
Luftfartstilynet calls for faster refund routines and believes that automatic refund will help passengers get their money back faster.
– The corona pandemic with so many scenarios has revealed the need for better solutions and systems when it comes to refunds, says Kobberstad.
He adds that the Authority has great knowledge of the demanding situation in which the airlines find themselves, and it was not expected that they could comply with the regulations to the letter. – Equally important, we are concerned that consumers get the money they are entitled to. In many cases, these are significant amounts that have been outstanding for a long time, she emphasizes.
SAS is in dialogue
SAS tells NRK that the company is in a good dialogue with the Civil Aviation Authority and will continue to do so.
SAS ‘John Eckhoff says the company is keen to have a good dialogue with the Civil Aviation Authority in the future.
Photo: SAS
– We see the decision of the Civil Aviation Authority as an expression of the prevailing impatience, but we would also like to add that we are in an unjustified situation, says press manager John Eckhoff to NRK. He emphasizes that it is difficult for SAS to give an estimate of when the company will have completed the refunds.
