Norwegian introduces new baggage policy

Norwegian has introduced a new hand luggage policy aiming to make boarding smoother for passengers and ensuring flights depart on time.

“Norwegian’s business model is based on giving our customers freedom of choice and that is also the basis of this new policy,” said Cecilie Nybø Carlsen, VP Product Management at Norwegian. “It’s important for us that everyone has a good travel experience when they fly Norwegian. It is a common misperception that there is enough room in the cabin for all passengers to bring an overhead cabin bag. However, most of our aircraft carry 186 passengers and has space for around 80 overhead cabin bags. Now, with the new policy in place, our goal is that boarding will be smoother for our passengers, we can avoid spending time rearranging carry-on baggage in the overhead lockers and help ensure that our aircraft depart on time.”

All passengers can travel with a bag that can be stored under the seat in front of them, however, under the new policy passengers who opt for the LowFare tickets can only bring the ‘underseat’ bag and would need to purchase an overhead cabin bag, add checked baggage or select a different ticket type. The airline has increased the size allowance for the underseat bag and it can weigh 10 kilos.

Passengers with a LowFare+ ticket can bring one overhead cabin bag (in addition to the underseat carry-on) with a maximum weight of 10 kilos. If the cabin is full, passengers with a LowFare+ ticket will have their hand baggage checked at the gate free of charge – if passengers wish to secure space in the overhead lockers they can opt for Priority Boarding. Passengers with this ticket type can also bring a checked bag with a maximum weight of 23 kilos.

Finally, passengers with a Flex, Premium or PremiumFlex ticket can bring an overhead cabin bag and ‘underseat’ bag at a maximum combined weight of 15 kilos, as well as two checked bags with a maximum weight of 23 kilos each.

Carlsen said: “All customers, regardless of ticket type, can bring one underseat bag to be stored under the seat in front of them. If customers don’t need any additional hand baggage, they can choose our LowFare ticket at no additional costs. Those who wish to bring an additional overhead cabin bag can do so at a small cost prior to departure or choose a different ticket type when booking their ticket.”