Norwegian authorities slap SAS with 1 million kroner fine for not reimbursing passengers fast enough

SAS must pay NOK 1 million in fines for not having made enough reimbursements within the set deadline, the Civil Aviation Authority announced.

In many cases, reimbursement claims were made many months ago.

The fine has been issued based on the status of reimbursements as of December 1.

 In January, a new decision will be made as to whether the airline has made sufficient progress on processing cases for outstanding reimbursements, a press release from the authorities noted.

“We are aware that the airlines have made a great effort to repay claims, but we believe that they should have been on target now, nine months after the COVID-19 pandemic began to lead to canceled flights,” Lars Kobberstad, the head of the Civil Aviation Authority, noted.

“The money belongs to the passengers”

He emphasized that advance payments to the airlines for airline tickets consist of money that belongs to passengers until the flight is actually completed.

“We assume that the airlines prioritize getting all cases processed as soon as possible so that they can again operate in line with the regulations,” Kobberstad stated.

The Civil Aviation Authority is also investigating other airlines operating in Norway in relation to reimbursements.

Thousands of passengers have been waiting a long time for reimbursement for canceled flights, and the Civil Aviation Authority announced earlier this autumn that airlines with too many unprocessed reimbursement claims could be fined.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today