How long you have to claim compensation for a flight in Norway
3 years is Norway’s ordinary limitation period for an EU261 claim, and Norway’s Supreme Court has held that no separate, shorter notice deadline sits on top of it. The Regulation reaches a flight leaving Oslo through the European Economic Area Agreement; Norway is not in the EU. Below: the EEA route, the ruling that closed the shorter-deadline question, which flights are covered, and how Transportklagenemnda’s own escalation works.
Norway’s ordinary limitation period for an 
EU. Below: the EEA route, the ruling that closed the shorter-deadline question, which flights are covered, and how Transportklagenemnda’s own escalation works.#How long do you have to bring an EU261 claim in Norway?
3 years is Norway’s ordinary limitation period for a compensation claim, under section 2 of the Foreldelsesloven, running from the day of the breach. Norway’s Supreme Court has confirmed no separate, shorter notice deadline applies to an EU261 claim on top of it.
Foreldelsesloven (the Limitation Act) section 2 sets Norway’s ordinary limitation period at three years: “Den alminnelige foreldelsesfrist er 3 år.” Section 3 nr. 2 runs that period from the day of the breach; for a delayed or cancelled flight, counting from the flight date is the safe reading.
Whether a shorter, unwritten deadline sat on top of that three years was an open question. Norway’s Supreme Court, the Høyesterett, closed it directly; the next section covers that ruling in full.
Source: Foreldelsesloven (lov 1979-05-18-18) sections 2, 3 nr. 2 - lovdata.no, checked 2026-09-18.
Count three years from your flight date, and read on for the ruling that confirms nothing shortens it further.
#Why does an EU regulation apply in Norway, and did the Supreme Court add a shorter deadline?
14 December 2020 is the date Norway’s Høyesterett, in HR-2020-2401-A (Nilsen v Finnair), held that no separate, shorter, unwritten notice-of-claim deadline applies to an EU261 claim on top of the ordinary limitation period: three years is the only time bar.
Finnair), held that no separate, shorter, unwritten notice-of-claim deadline applies to an EU261 claim on top of the ordinary limitation period: three years is the only time bar.EU261 applies in Norway through the European Economic Area Agreement, not EU membership. EEA Joint Committee Decision No 171/2004 inserted Regulation 261/2004 into Annex XIII, and the Agreement’s own Protocol 1 reads references to “the Community” as covering the Contracting Parties, Norway included. The European Commission’s own interpretative guidelines confirm the Regulation “is applicable to... Norway in accordance with the Agreement on the European Economic Area.”
European Commission’s own interpretative guidelines confirm the Regulation “is applicable to... EU261 sets no deadline of its own: the CJEU held in Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2012) that national limitation law fills the gap. The question left in Norway was whether a separate, shorter, unwritten notice-of-claim deadline also applied to compensation under the Regulation. In HR-2020-2401-A the Høyesterett held that none does: the ordinary three-year section 2 period is the only time bar. The court expressly distinguished Sweden’s approach. This page does not describe that approach; Sweden’s own rules are on the Sweden page.
Sweden’s approach. This page does not describe that approach; Source: EEA Joint Committee Decision No 171/2004 - eur-lex.europa.eu; Commission Interpretative Guidelines C/2024/5687, footnote 20 - eur-lex.europa.eu; Høyesterett, HR-2020-2401-A (14 Dec 2020) - domstol.no; CJEU C-139/11, Cuadrench Moré - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-18.
Rely on three years. No shorter notice rule survives the Høyesterett’s ruling.
#Which flights does Norway’s deadline govern?
Article 3(1)(a) of EU261, read with the EEA territorial adaptation, covers every departure from a Norwegian airport, on any airline. Inbound flights from outside the EEA need a Community carrier, and whether a carrier licensed in Norway qualifies for its own inbound flights is a question no source we read answers.
Norwegian airport, on any airline. Inbound flights from outside the EEA need a Community carrier, and whether a carrier licensed in Two routes show where the line falls. A flight from Oslo to Bangkok is inside the Regulation whoever operates it, because it leaves Norway. A separately booked flight from Bangkok to Oslo is inside only if a Community carrier operates it, and only if you did not already receive benefits, compensation and assistance in Thailand.
The open point is the licence. The EEA texts we read do not say whether an airline licensed in Norway counts as a “Community carrier” for its own flights into Norway from outside the EEA. Until a source settles it, treat such an inbound flight as uncertain rather than covered.
From a UK airport, the UK’s own version of the Regulation applies instead. Its article 3(1)(a) covers a London to Oslo departure on any airline. Its inbound rule, article 3(1)(b)(ii), reaches arrivals in the 27 EU member states on a UK air carrier, and Norway is not one of them.
UK airport, the Source: EU261 art. 3(1)(a)-(b) - eur-lex.europa.eu; UK261 art. 3(1)(a)-(b) - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
Before relying on either regime for a flight into Oslo or Bergen, check which carrier actually operated it.
#Who handles a complaint in Norway, and when can you go to them?
4 weeks is how long the airline gets to reply, or 8 weeks if it sends an interim reply, before Transportklagenemnda will take your complaint. The board has no domain of its own and works through its secretariat, Norsk Reiselivsforum.
Transportklagenemnda, the Dispute Resolution Board, is the body the Commission’s list names for passenger complaints in Norway, and complaints reach it through the Norsk Reiselivsforum pages.
You must try to resolve the dispute with the airline directly first. Escalate to Transportklagenemnda only once the airline has refused, or once four weeks have passed without a reply, extended to eight weeks if the airline sent an interim reply in the meantime.
The Commission’s list, updated 27 August 2026, carries Norway under “EEA countries applying Regulation (EC) No 261/2004”; every other state’s enforcement body is on the same list.
Source: Norsk Reiselivsforum (Transportklagenemnda’s secretariat) - reiselivsforum.no; European Commission, National Enforcement Bodies (updated 27 August 2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-18.
Write to the airline first, wait the full four weeks (eight if it replies with an interim answer), then escalate to Transportklagenemnda if still unresolved.
#What to do before the deadline runs out
3 years from the day of the breach is the only time bar in Norway, and the Høyesterett has ruled out a shorter notice rule on top of it. Write to the airline, give it 4 weeks, or 8 after an interim reply, then take the claim to Transportklagenemnda or a Norwegian court.
Put the claim in writing so the four-week window has a clear start: flight number and date, what went wrong, and the amount you ask for under EU261. If the airline sends a holding reply, note its date, because that reply is what moves the window to eight weeks.
An airline that answers that your claim is late because you did not give notice quickly enough is relying on the argument HR-2020-2401-A rejected. Point to the ruling and to the three-year period. Then keep going. If Norwegian operated your flight, Norwegian’s page covers its claims route. If the route itself is in doubt, work out which law covers your flight, and flight compensation time limits sets Norway’s three years beside every other country’s figure.
General information about EU261 claims in Norway, not legal advice. For your specific case: Transportklagenemnda or a lawyer in Norway.
Send the claim now and count three years from the flight date; the Høyesterett has already closed the door on anything shorter.
#Sources
- Foreldelsesloven (lov 1979-05-18-18), sections 2, 3 - lovdata.no, checked 2026-09-18.
- Høyesterett, HR-2020-2401-A (14 December 2020) - domstol.no, checked 2026-09-18.
- Norsk Reiselivsforum (Transportklagenemnda’s secretariat) - reiselivsforum.no, checked 2026-09-18.
- EEA Joint Committee Decision No 171/2004 - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
- European Commission, Interpretative Guidelines C/2024/5687 - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
- CJEU C-139/11, Cuadrench Moré - eur-lex.europa.eu.
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, art. 3 - eur-lex.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.
- Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 as it forms part of UK law, art. 3 - legislation.gov.uk, checked 2026-09-15.
- European Commission, National Enforcement Bodies — Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 (updated 27 August 2026) - transport.ec.europa.eu, checked 2026-09-15.