In Ålesund, two families are still waiting for just over NOK 77,000 in pure outlays from SAS. This despite the fact that the Aviation Authority already in August asked SAS to hurry up with paying out refunds to customers. – It is becoming urgent to get our money back. There are large sums outstanding for us, says Anne Marthe Bjørkavoll to news. Anne Marte Bjørkavoll (left) and Camilla Jacobsen hope SAS cleans things up. Photo: Private images Originally, the claim to SAS was NOK 93,500. This is money they had to pay for alternative transport, hotels and food during the pilot strike this summer. Now, two months after the strike is over, they have only been refunded a total of NOK 16,000. I guess they are for the canceled plane tickets. In addition, the families have requested EU compensation of 400 Euros each way for eight people – a total of approximately NOK 65,000. Didn’t get any help from SAS Bjørkavoll is a mother in one of the two families from Ålesund that were affected by the strike. She points out that she has full sympathy with the strikers, but says it is now up to the company to clean up. Together with her husband and two young people, she was to travel to Split with another family. In total, according to Vigra, there were eight people who went to Oslo Airport on the morning of July 4, the same day the strike broke. Then they sat in the transfer, with checked-in luggage. They did not get it out for quite some time, as all SAS counters were closed. – We sat there for a long time before we received a text message from SAS that they could not help us with alternative travel, says Bjørkavoll. Arrange alternative travel yourself Only after a few hours did SAS hosts with yellow vests appear in the departure hall. The traveling party were then told that they could book an alternative journey in the same price range, economy. One of the two sleeping cars the families took to Sola. Photo: Privat / news Bjørkavoll says this was cleared with the SAS hosts. She says that they also asked if they had to fly from Oslo, or if they could go from another city. – We were told that we could arrange alternative transport from country to country, says Bjørkavoll. The families were able to order two sleeping cars on the train to Stavanger and Sola. – We laughed when we saw we had two beds by two, for eight people. But we got away. From Sola, they traveled to Gatwick with Norwegian, and then by train to Luten Airport in the north of London, where they finally got off to Split and Croatia. – Then we had been traveling for over a day and spent a lot of money on trains, flights to London, taxis, buses and finally Split. The families took the night train from Oslo to Stavanger to get on to Croatia, when the flight at Gardermoen with SAS was cancelled. Photo: Private photo – You can’t mean it! The two families had two nice weeks in Croatia in a rented house. At the same time, they were worried about getting the money back. In addition, the journey home also offered trouble. The strike was still not over and the flight home was also cancelled. A SAS call center first announced that they would send the families to Munich in Germany, and then to Romania. They were to sit there for a day, before the trip was to go to Copenhagen, then to Oslo and on to Vigra. Anne Marte Bjørkavoll has been waiting for over two months for money from SAS. Photo: Private photo – You can’t mean it! so I. You can’t send four adults and four young people around Europe like that, says Bjørkavoll. According to her, the customer manager started to laugh, because he understood the frustration. In a text message it was said that SAS covered hotel and food, but that the families had to cover all expenses themselves and book hotels at a given price, and then apply for a refund afterwards. Again, there was a large outlay for the two families, over NOK 20,000. The next day the strike was called off. But they didn’t get to fly home until two more days had passed. And they had to stay two more nights in a hotel. – SAS could not help us. We had to arrange everything ourselves. Now we hope that they clean up and give us our money back, says Bjørkavoll. Claims sent two months ago The families sent claims for the actual trip to Croatia already on 7 July. On 23 July they sent a further claim. They have never received any response from SAS to the e-mails, despite repeated reminders. – Do you believe that you will get all the money back? – We vary who in the gang thinks we will get money back. It will be at the expense of the summer holidays next year if they do not come again. I’m a teacher, so we don’t have a lot of money. Press manager at SAS, Tonje Sund, strongly apologizes for the inconvenience it causes for the individual customer – that repayments take time. news has asked SAS about what they are doing to reach the goal of refunds of the type the families in Ålesund have outstanding. But SAS cannot say when the money will arrive. – The strike this summer has had major consequences for many people. We very well understand the frustration of customers who are affected and who are still waiting to be reimbursed their rightful claims, it is very regrettable and we are really sorry for it, says Tonje Sund, press manager at SAS. Different types of refunds We operate with different types of refunds: Simple refund of flight tickets as a result of an airline canceling the flight. There is a seven-day deadline for paying the money back to the passengers. Compensation for other expenses. Also called claims and reclamation. It can be e.g. extra expenses for hotel, rental car, train, plane. There is basically no statutory time limit here. But orders may be given by the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority here as well. Standard compensation according to the EU regulations: If you are entitled to standard compensation, it is determined based on the following rates: 250 euros for all flights up to 1,500 km. 400 euros for all flights within the EEA of more than 1,500 km and for all other flights of between 1,500 and 3,500 km. 600 euros for all other flights. Sources: SAS/Lufartstilsynet/Forbrukerrådet Large sums owed Earlier in September, the Norwegian Aviation Authority ordered SAS to ensure that passengers who are entitled to a refund of the ticket price as a result of cancellation by the company are refunded the full ticket price within seven days (the seven-day deadline, journ.amn.) . The order applied from Thursday last week. The authority asked SAS to confirm by the following day, 16 September, that such refunds had been made. Legal director of the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority, Nina Vindvik, says SAS has reported to the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority that they are up to date with regard to refunds on flight tickets. But the supervisory authority wants more questions answered by SAS. Press manager at SAS, Tonje Sund, states that from now on they are within the seven-day deadline when it comes to refunding the flight ticket itself. When it comes to compensation for other expenses, however, it will take longer. Sund does not know how large the amounts are. – We must come back to the amounts in kroner in the quarterly reports, since we are a listed company. But it is clear that with a 15-day strike with half of the planes on the ground, it is a question of large sums, Sund explains. At the same time, she promises that everyone who is entitled to a refund from SAS will get it. Many were affected when 900 SAS pilots went on strike on 4 July this year. There are still many who have not received their money back. Photo: Beate Oma Dahle / NTB Notice of compulsory fine of NOK 100,000 Early in September, the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority gave advance notice to SAS that they were considering a compulsory fine of NOK 100,000 for the company from 20 September. The authority has also notified compulsory fines every 10 days until the order is complied with. In a letter sent to SAS on 6 September, it is also stated that the punishment may be more severe. – We will take up follow-up with SAS regarding both extra costs and standard compensation with the company in a meeting this week, says Vindvik. Photo: Press image, Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority If SAS still has not liquidated the arrears and does not reimburse in line with the refund deadline by mid-October, the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority will consider increasing the amount of the compulsory fine. The main purpose of a compulsory fine is to ensure that SAS pays its customers back what they owe them. The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority has still not concluded whether SAS will receive a compulsory fine from 20 September. Legal director Nina Vindvik says the case is still under assessment. – There are still questions that we have not fully clarified, and we have reported back to SAS that we would like a meeting with them. As regards compulsory fines or not, it has not been concluded. The supervisory authority has requested a meeting on Wednesday 21 September, to address both additional costs and the payment of standard compensation that follows from the EU regulations (see fact box above). – As quickly as possible Although SAS now states that they have refunded canceled tickets, they are not on target with refunding extra costs for things such as hotels and rental cars. Here there is no statutory deadline, and the processing time depends on the complexity of each individual case, according to Sund in SAS. She adds that due to the volume, it will unfortunately take time – which she herself points out is “very regrettable”. The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority confirms that no specific deadline has been set in the regulations for additional costs for travellers, but says this follows from general right to demand money. – But we think it should happen as quickly as possible. This is also something we want to follow up with the company. We are talking about large sums in several cases, and we expect the company to also pay back these justified claims as quickly as they can, writes Vindvik to news. As of today, the Civil Aviation Authority has not given a deadline for repaying extra expenses, but it may be appropriate to issue a new order.
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The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority considers compulsory fines for SAS – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
