Is Norse Atlantic’s Cape Town route a bargain or a scheduling nightmare?

Budget airline Norse Atlantic launched direct flights between London Gatwick and Cape Town in October 2024, offering fares from as little as £499 (R11,334) return. But one reader’s experience of not one but two major reschedules on a single trip raises questions about whether Norse’s rock-bottom prices come with hidden costs.

When Norse Atlantic Airways touched down at Cape Town International Airport on 28 October 2024, it was hailed as a game changer. The Norwegian low-cost carrier was breaking the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic duopoly on the London to Cape Town route, flying from Gatwick rather than Heathrow three times a week.

The promise was simple: modern Boeing 787 Dreamliners, comfortable seats, and prices that undercut the legacy carriers by hundreds of pounds. With return fares starting at £499 in economy and £1,199 in premium, Norse positioned itself as the people’s airline to South Africa.

And by most accounts, the service itself has been solid. The inaugural flight was fully booked, passengers have praised the cabin comfort, and demand has been strong enough that Norse has already announced plans to expand the route to six flights weekly during peak 2025-2026 season.

But when things go wrong on Norse Atlantic, they really go wrong

Which brings us to our reader’s experience. They’ve asked to remain anonymous, but their story raises serious questions about Norse’s operational reliability.

The family had booked flight Z0795 on Friday 17 October 2025 to attend a friend’s wedding in Cape Town. Then on 23 September, more than three weeks before departure, Norse rescheduled their flight to Thursday 16 October. With kids still at school, this wasn’t workable, so they opted for the next available day, Saturday 18 October.

The inconvenience was significant. Car rentals had to be rebooked. Hotel reservations had to be changed. All at the customer’s expense, with no offer of compensation from Norse.

Fast forward to 8 November at 14:45, less than 24 hours before departure. Another email lands: “We are sorry to inform you your flight is significantly delayed.”

What followed was a cascade of schedule changes throughout the day. The flight that should have left on Sunday 9 November at 12:30 was eventually rescheduled to depart at 00:30 on 10 November, a full 12 hours later. In the end, the plane actually took off after 1am.

Compensation? £10

Norse’s response? A generous offer of R250 (approximately £10) to cover extending the Airbnb (which wasn’t available for an extra night), extending the car rental (which they managed to arrange themselves), and expenses for an additional 12 hours in Cape Town with nowhere to stay.

The family ended up checking in early, spending more than five hours milling about at the airport. The cherry on top? Their son missed his first day at a new job.

“On the whole we loved the existence, cost, service, seats, booking process etc but the rescheduling was a nightmare, twice in one trip,” our reader wrote. “Were we unlucky or are things at Norse always this messy?”

A pattern emerges

It’s a fair question. And the evidence suggests this may not be an isolated incident.

There’s a dedicated Facebook group called Norse Atlantic Complaints & Grievances with 7,300 followers, filled with similar stories of delays, cancellations, and poor communication. On Trustpilot, Norse Atlantic has a dismal 1.8-star rating, with complaints about flight delays and particularly about the airline’s customer service, or lack thereof, dominating the reviews.

Norse doesn’t operate a phone line for customer service, relying instead on email and a chatbot named Odin. Multiple passengers report sending numerous emails about compensation claims only to be met with silence, sometimes for months.

One analysis of Norse’s JFK to Rome route found a concerning 40% delay rate. Customer reviews consistently mention difficulties getting compensation even when they’re legally entitled to it under UK and EU regulations.

The low-cost trade-off

To be fair to Norse, operational hiccups aren’t uncommon for a relatively young airline. The company only launched commercial operations in June 2022, making it barely three years old. Growing pains are to be expected.

And for many passengers, the experience has been positive. When flights run on time, the value proposition is compelling. You’re getting a direct flight to Cape Town on a modern aircraft for hundreds of pounds less than the competition.

But the question is whether the savings are worth the risk. If you’re flying for a time-sensitive event like a wedding, a job interview, or to catch a connecting safari booking, can you afford to have your flight rescheduled not once but twice?

Our reader made an interesting observation: “Perhaps South Africans measure their flight expectations and standards based on FlySafair!” It’s a tongue-in-cheek comment, but there’s truth to it. South Africans are used to FlySafair’s remarkable punctuality record and responsive customer service. Norse Atlantic is playing in a different league altogether.

Norse stays silent

We reached out to Norse Atlantic on Monday, 19 November, requesting comment on the rescheduling issues, compensation policies and myriad of customer service complaints. At the time of publishing, we’ve heard nothing back.

The silence is, unfortunately, on brand. It’s the same complaint we hear again and again from passengers: when things go wrong, Norse goes quiet.

Your turn

Have you flown Norse Atlantic to Cape Town? Did your flight leave on time, or did you experience delays and rescheduling? Were you able to get compensation when things went wrong?

We’d love to hear your experiences, good or bad. Email us your Norse Atlantic stories and let us know whether this budget option to South Africa is a genuine bargain or a gamble you’d rather not take.

After all, cheap flights are not much of a bargain if they do not get you there, when you need to be there.