Thank you for contacting Norwegian on the 23rd of September 2014.
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused by the delay to your flight, DY7005 from Stockholm to New York on the 17th of September 2014. Regrettably, this flight was delayed by 18 hours and 25 minutes due to an unforeseen technical problem with the APU.
We understand that punctuality is vital for our passengers, and Norwegian strives to ensure that all flights operate according to schedule. Regrettably, due to the nature of air travel, delays and cancellations are unavoidable and do occur from time to time.
Norwegian follows all maintenance programs imposed by the CAA, and the aircraft manufacturer, as well as internal maintenance procedures. We therefore consider that all reasonable measures were taken to avoid such technical difficulties.
In accordance with the legislations which we are bound by, we are not obliged to provide compensation a not including that outlined in EC Regulation 261/2004 Article 9 if the disruption was caused by reasons deemed to be outside of our control. Circumstances that are beyond the control of the operating air carrier are events that are not caused by an act or omission of the air carrier. In light of this information, unfortunately we are unable to honour your request for EU compensation.
In saying that, we would like to offer our passengers a form of compensation, as a gesture of goodwill, and we will therefore offer you a compensation of 125 euro per passenger in total 250 EUR. Please provide your bank account details IBAN, BIC/Swift code, name of bank, account name and account holder’s postal address (For US accounts we require account number, ABA number, SWIFT, name of bank, account name and account holder’s postal address).
We respect that our response may not offer the outcome you were seeking, however we must adhere to certain guidelines to ensure we are providing a fair and equitable service.
For the avoidance of doubt, we refer to the relevant verdicts found in the European Court of Justice which apply to your particular case.
European Court of Justice – C-402/07 (Sturgeon):
The EC Regulation 261/2004 does not expressly provide compensation for cases where the flight has been delayed as it does in the case of cancellations. According to the decision of the European Court of Justice in case C-402/07 (Sturgeon), the passengers affected by a delay should be compensated under the terms laid down in Article 7 of regulation 261/2004, when they reach the final destination three hours or more after the original scheduled arrival time. The airlines are exempt from further compensation if the reason for the delay is extraordinary circumstances outside the airline's control.
European Court of Justice – C-549/07 (Wallentin-Hermann):
Judgement C-549/07 (Wallentin-Hermann) is trying to define what can be classified as extraordinary circumstances. According to the judgement, technical problems that are found during the scheduled maintenance of an aircraft cannot be defined as extraordinary circumstances, unless the technical problem stems from events which, by their nature or origin, are not inherent in the normal exercise of the carrier’s activity and are beyond the operating carrier’s actual control. Circumstances that are not inherent in the operation of air services are events that do not routinely occur during the operation of the aircraft.
We apologise for any disappointment our response may cause and hope that we may have the pleasure in welcoming you onboard a Norwegian flight when you next choose to travel.
Kind regards,
Customer Relations
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA