Norwegian delay and cancellation compensation

Checked 18 Sep 2026·8 min read · 4 tables

€250, €400 or €600 under EU261, or £220, £350 or £520 under UK261, is what Norwegian owes when a flight reaches your final destination three hours or more late, unless extraordinary circumstances caused it. Two separate companies fly under the Norwegian brand, and only one of them has a confirmed licence that reaches arriving flights, so check which one operated yours — that split decides most Norwegian airlines claims on an arriving flight.

• EU261 €€250–€600per passenger, 3 h or more late at arrival
• UK261 ££220–£520per passenger, 3 h or more late at arrival
• Claim serviceNo win, no feeHand the claim over →

Key facts: Norwegian

Source: EU261 arts. 3 and 7 — eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 arts. 2, 3 and 7 — legislation.gov.uk; EC list of EU air carriers (ACOL data 19/05/2026); CAA ADR page — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-18.

#EU261 €How much does Norwegian pay under EU261 on flights from EU, Norwegian and Icelandic airports?

€250, €400 or €600 per passenger is owed when a Norwegian flight departing an EU, Norwegian or Icelandic airport reaches your final destination three hours or more late, unless extraordinary circumstances caused it. The regulation reaches these departures under any carrier, because Iceland and Norway apply it through the EEA Agreement.

Source: EU261 art. 7(1)-(2), 7(4) — eur-lex.europa.eu; EEA Joint Committee Decision No 171/2004 — eur-lex.europa.eu; Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009), para 63 — eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-18.

#Why an intra-Community route never drops to the reduced amount

A Norwegian flight from Oslo to Alicante covers about 2,570 km by the great-circle measure article 7(4) uses, which puts it in the 1,500-3,500 km band: it stays at €400 whether the delay is 3 hours 10 minutes or 8 hours, and so does every other flight in that band. The intra-Community carve-out only starts to do work past 3,500 km. Sturgeon’s reduction reaches flights that fall outside article 7(2)(a) and (b), and an intra-Community flight sits inside 7(2)(b) however far it goes — a 4,700 km route inside the EEA holds its full €400, while a route of the same length leaving the EEA can be cut to €300 at 3 to under 4 hours late. Match your own route to the table above, then note the time the aircraft door opened.

#When does UK261 apply to a Norwegian flight instead of EU261?

2 companies fly under the Norwegian brand, and the departure airport alone decides UK261 or EU261: a UK departure is always UK261, and an EU, Norwegian or Icelandic departure is always EU261. Arrivals are where the two companies split apart, because only one of them has a confirmed licence that reaches them.

Norwegian’s companies and their licences

Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB is licensed in Sweden, an EU member state, so it counts as a Community carrier without qualification: EU261 covers its arrivals into the EU under article 3(1)(b), and UK261 covers its arrivals into the UK under the matching test. Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, which the Norwegian register lists as NORWEGIAN AIR SHUTTLE AOC AS, holds a Norwegian air operator’s certificate rather than an EU operating licence, and no operating-licence register or Commission text extends the “Community carrier” definition to a Norway-licensed carrier the way the EU-Switzerland agreement extends it to Swiss ones. Treat any arrival that company operated as unresolved under both regimes, and never round that up to a “probably covered” answer.

Which rules apply to your Norwegian flight

No published list ties specific routes to a company, so check the operating carrier shown on your own booking confirmation before you file a claim on an arriving flight.

#How do you claim compensation from Norwegian directly?

Norwegian’s own claim pages fork 3 ways, one each for a delayed flight, a cancelled one and denied boarding, so the route you pick has to match the disruption. Then the flight number and date, the delay or the notice you got, and the amount for your band.

#Norwegian’s own delay and cancellation claim pages

Those pages (norwegian.com, opened 18 Sep 2026) are reached from the help and contact hub, and the claim itself starts at the delayed and cancelled flights page. A refund is a separate right under article 8, due within 7 days if you choose it instead of a replacement flight, and asking for one does not waive the compensation itself. Keep the airline’s own delay or cancellation message: it is your record of what Norwegian told you and when, which matters later if the airline disputes how much notice you got.

Set an 8-week reminder from the day you send the claim, since that is the point at which both UK and Norwegian escalation routes open up.

#Where do you escalate a refused Norwegian claim?

8 weeks without a reply is when a stalled Norwegian claim can move on; a refusal you dispute needs no wait at all. A UK departure with no reply goes to the CAA’s Passenger Advice and Complaints Team, since Norwegian is not an ADR member; a Norway departure under EU261 goes instead to Norway’s own national enforcement body, Transportklagenemnda.

PACT will not take a UK complaint with less than a year left to sue, and asks you to write to the airline first, then looks once you are dissatisfied with the reply or 8 weeks pass without one. It can recommend a solution but cannot bind Norwegian, and you may still go to court afterwards. Compare the ADR scheme guide, ADR map and refused-compensation guide for ADR-listed carriers.

Transportklagenemnda, run through the secretariat Norsk Reiselivsforum, expects you to try resolving the complaint with Norwegian first. Escalate once the airline refuses, or after 4 weeks without a reply (8 weeks if it sent an interim response) — a clock separate from the UK’s 8-week PACT trigger.

#If Norwegian rejects your claim

Ask Norwegian in writing to name the cause of the delay and the reasonable measures it took. Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07, 2008) holds that a technical problem found during maintenance is not extraordinary by itself, and the same reasoning rules out an airline’s own staffing or scheduling gaps. Article 5(3) and article 6(4) exempt only “compensation in accordance with Article 7”: even where extraordinary circumstances genuinely apply, your right to a refund, a re-routed flight and care while you wait is unaffected.

Refused on a Norwegian flight? AirHelp (third-party claim service) works no win no fee and keeps a fee from any payout; PACT, Transportklagenemnda and Norwegian’s own claim channel stay free.

Do it yourself · freeClaim with the airline, then the regulator

• Write to the airline and keep the reference
• Refused: the enforcement body of the country you left, free
• You keep all of the compensation

Use the claim letter template →

Hand it overAirHelp takes the claim, no win no fee

• They deal with Norwegian for you
• AirHelp's fee is 35% of the compensation, VAT included, and nothing if the claim fails.

Start with AirHelp →Third-party claim service

#How long do you have to claim against Norwegian?

3 years is Norway’s own limitation period for a claim governed by Norwegian law, running from the day of the flight under Foreldelsesloven §2. England, Wales and Northern Ireland give 6 years instead; Scotland’s 5-year prescription is an open point for a UK261 claim.

Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2012) holds that EU261 sets no time limit of its own: each country’s own limitation law governs a claim under it, so a claim heard in a Swedish court runs on Sweden’s ten-year period. Norway’s Supreme Court confirmed in HR-2020-2401-A (14 December 2020) that the ordinary 3-year period is the only time-bar, with no separate notice deadline.

A UK-departure claim under UK261 runs on article 3(9), applying section 9 of the Limitation Act 1980: 6 years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. No Scottish court has decided whether that or the 5-year Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 governs a UK261 claim, so file inside 5 years there; see the small-claims court guide for that route (Refused compensation what next).

Diarise 3 years from your flight date for a Norway claim, and note the airline’s final answer date either way.

Similar airlines: SAS, Norse Atlantic Airways, Finnair and Icelandair.

Not your situation? Canadian routes fall under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations; any airline from an EU airport falls under EU261, covered in full in the EU261 delay compensation guide; unsure which law fits: work it out here. Flying in the US? US federal rules differ: see US DOT rules.

General information, not legal advice. For your specific case, contact the CAA, the European Consumer Centre in your country, Norway’s Transportklagenemnda or a solicitor.

Norwegian complaints in the CAA figures

247 Reg 261 complaints about Norwegian reached CAA (PACT) in the CAA's 2025/26 figures (April 2025 to March 2026), an estimated 240 per million passengers, and 80.0% of cases were upheld. These are complaints the ADR body or the CAA received, not delays.

Norwegian: complaints, April 2025 to March 2026

CAA figure	FY26
Handled by	CAA (PACT)
Reg 261 complaints	247
All complaints opened	256
Per million passengers (CAA estimate)	240
Uphold rate	80.0%

Source: CAA, Passenger Complaints Data FY26 (Q2 2025 – Q1 2026), data correct as of 3 June 2026 — caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-22. The CAA calls the per-million figure "an indicative estimated value only".

#Sources

• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, arts. 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 16 - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-18.
• EEA Joint Committee Decision No 171/2004 - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-18.
• Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, arts. 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-18.
• Limitation Act 1980 s.9 - legislation.gov.uk; Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 art. 4 - legislation.gov.uk; Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 s.6 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-18.
• European Commission, EU air carriers by country holding an active operating licence (ACOL data 19/05/2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-18.
• Luftfartstilsynet (Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority), AOC list - luftfartstilsynet.no, checked 2026-09-18.
• Foreldelsesloven (lov 1979-05-18-18) §2 - lovdata.no; Høyesterett, HR-2020-2401-A (14 Dec 2020) - domstol.no, checked 2026-09-18.
• Norsk Reiselivsforum, Transportklagenemnda complaints process - reiselivsforum.no, checked 2026-09-18.
• CAA, Airline licence holders, Alternative Dispute Resolution and How the CAA can help pages - caa.co.uk, checked 2026-09-18.
• European Commission, National Enforcement Bodies — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (updated 27 Aug 2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-18.
• Sturgeon, joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07 (2009); Wallentin-Hermann, C-549/07 (2008); Cuadrench Moré, C-139/11 (2012), CJEU - eur-lex.europa.eu.
• Norwegian, own pages (opened 18 Sep 2026): Help and contact, Delayed and cancelled flights.

#FAQ

How do I claim compensation from Norwegian?

Send Norwegian your flight number, date and the delay or cancellation notice through its own claims channel, not a general enquiry form. Check which entity is named as operating carrier on your booking before you argue for an inbound claim, since that name decides whether one is even open to you.

Which Norwegian company operated my flight, and does it change what UK261 or EU261 covers?

2 companies fly under the Norwegian brand. Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB is a Community carrier, so both UK261 and EU261 reach its arrivals and departures alike. Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, licensed in Norway, has no confirmed inbound status: its departures are covered, and its arrivals are unresolved rather than refused. Check the operating carrier on your booking.

How long do I have to claim against Norwegian?

Start the clock on the day you flew. Under Norwegian law, Foreldelsesloven paragraph 2 gives 3 years, confirmed by the Supreme Court in HR-2020-2401-A with no shorter notice deadline attached. An English, Welsh or Northern Irish court instead applies the Limitation Act 1980's 6 years; Scotland's shorter prescription is still an open question.

Does Norwegian pay compensation in vouchers?

Only against your signature. Say no in writing, and the escalation clock starts: Transportklagenemnda takes a Norway-departure complaint once Norwegian refuses outright or 4 weeks pass with no reply, 8 weeks if it sent an interim one. A UK departure waits 8 weeks for PACT instead.

What if I can't tell which Norwegian company operated my flight?

Check the confirmation email or e-ticket for the words "operated by", which name the actual operating carrier rather than the marketing brand Norwegian. If it names Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB, an arriving flight is covered; if it names Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, or the confirmation is silent, treat the arrival as unresolved and rely on the departure-side rules instead.