Norse Atlantic Airways expands Swiipr solution to US hubs

Norse Atlantic Airways has started using Swiipr’s digital passenger compensation payments system at the John F Kennedy International, Miami International and Los Angeles International airports.

It will shortly be expanding this to include the Harry Reid International Airport when it begins direct services between London Gatwick and Las Vegas later this month.   

The Norwegian airline is the third carrier to integrate with the travel paytech company in the US, which earlier this year secured £6m in Series A funding to help drive the company’s next phase of growth. 

There are now 28 airports across the US where airlines that have integrated with Swiipr are able to deliver real-time compensation and light refreshment vouchers, as well as goodwill gestures to inconvenienced passengers. 

Norse partnered with Swiipr in May this year for its European operations so that passengers whose flights are delayed or disrupted while travelling on Norse are provided with digital funds via a payment wallet.

Tanguy Le Meur, customer care manager of Norse Atlantic Airways, said: “We have been really impressed with the ease of use of Swiipr’s solution in our European operations and it was a natural progression to expand this into the US.

“European passengers have long had strong consumer rights in terms of delays and flight compensation, but until recently US passengers were in a much weaker position when faced with disruption.

“However, recent moves from the US Department of Transport show a clear direction of travel in terms of giving US passengers better rights, which we welcome. We want to make sure that not only are we in full compliance with legislation as it evolves, but also that we are providing the best customer experience to our passengers.”

Tara Spielhagen, co-founder and CEO of Swiipr, added: “We’ve seen an uptick in interest in solutions from both our existing partners with operations in the US and also US airlines this year. We expect this to increase further as US passenger rights become more aligned with those of European travellers.

“We already know that legacy airline compensation systems are unfit for purpose, but this problem is exacerbated further every time regulations change and require more frequent payments to customers. 

"Legacy systems already cost airlines billions of dollars every year and they add to the stress passengers experience when suffering travel disruption. We’re living in a digital age and passenger compensation systems need to adapt to fit with consumers’ experiences in other areas of their lives.

“Our existing airline partners and their customers have reaped the benefits of Swiipr, with significant improvements to customer satisfaction and a knock-on effect to airlines’ reputations, not to mention the reduced risk of regulatory fines and the economies of scale of a global platform.”