Sunclass Airlines said no to your compensation claim

Updated 15 October 2026
General information, not legal advice. The outcome depends on the facts of your case.

You flew on a Ving, Spies, Tjäreborg or Globetrotter holiday, the flight was hours late or cancelled, and Sunclass Airlines rejected your claim. Or the tour operator told you to take it up with the airline. Both happen. A rejection is the airline's view, not a ruling, and Sunclass has to prove its reason.

We are not affiliated with Sunclass Airlines or its tour operators and do not act for them.

Who Sunclass is

Sunclass Airlines ApS is a Danish charter airline at Copenhagen Airport, Dragør. It took to the air on 31 October 2019 and was previously Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, MyTravel Airways and Premiair. It belongs to Nordic Leisure Travel Group, whose tour operators are Spies, Ving Sverige, Ving Norge, Globetrotter and Tjäreborg. Its bases are Billund, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Malmö, Oslo and Stockholm Arlanda.

In June 2026 Norwegian agreed to buy Nordic Leisure Travel Group, Sunclass included. Completion was expected in the second half of 2026. Either way, the claim goes to the airline that flew you: Sunclass.

Which rules apply

Sunclass is an EU airline, so Regulation 261/2004 covers its flights out of the EU and its flights back into the EU, including the long return from Thailand. If you arrived 3 hours or more late, compensation is €250, €400 or €600 per passenger, depending on distance.

You bought a package, not a ticket. That does not matter for EU261: the regulation applies to the operating airline even without a contract with you (Article 3(5)). Finland's KRIL has said the airline is primarily liable (D/1726/35/2012), and Denmark's package holiday board refused to examine an EU261 claim against a travel agency (2010/0318). A price reduction for a spoiled holiday is a separate claim against Ving or Spies. See charter flight delays.

What Sunclass says, and what the rules say back

Strikes and manufacturing defects. Sunclass's own EU261 FAQ, in Norwegian and Finnish, lists storms, strikes and manufacturing defects on the aircraft as extraordinary circumstances, with no qualification. That is too broad.

• A strike by the airline's own staff is not extraordinary (Airhelp v SAS C-28/20). Ask who was striking. See strike cancellation.
• Ordinary technical faults are part of normal operations (van der Lans C-257/14). Only a hidden design defect that existed at the time and that the airline could not detect or control can be extraordinary (Matkustaja A v Finnair C-385/23). Sweden's ARN accepts only a hidden manufacturing defect announced by the manufacturer or an authority (ARN 2020-04722). Ask what failed and what the manufacturer said. See technical faults.

"We may deduct what the travel agency paid you." The Danish, Swedish and Norwegian FAQs say the airline may deduct compensation you received from the travel agency. Deduction is only fair where both payments cover the same loss. In D/4320/35/2017 KRIL said a price reduction for a shortened holiday is not the same loss as EU261's lost time. Tell Sunclass exactly what the tour operator paid, and for what.

Be fair about it. Sunclass's predecessor won a case at KRIL: a Phuket–Helsinki return on 25 December 2017 was routed via Stockholm because Russia refused overflight, and arrived 3 h 30 min late. KRIL found the authority ban extraordinary and the airline's measures reasonable (D/1037/35/2018). A real outside event with a documented response can hold up.

How to claim from Sunclass

• Where: the airline's own claim form in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian or Finnish. By post: Sunclass Airlines, Att. Quality & Claims, Handlingsvej Øst 7, Hangar 276, 2791 Dragør, Denmark.
• What to include: the booking number and the number of passengers. Claim in writing after you have arrived, once the length and cause of the delay are known.
• Answer time: Sunclass says 6 to 8 weeks, longer in busy periods.
• Delay certificate: at delays.sunclassairlines.dk, by choosing the tour operator, ticket number and departure date.
• Claim yourself. The FAQ itself advises claiming directly to avoid a third party's fee.
• Vouchers: compensation is paid in money unless you agree in writing to something else. See voucher instead of compensation.

Does Sunclass follow the boards?

We found no sign that it ignores them. Sunclass, Ving and Thomas Cook are not on SVT's 2018 list of airlines ignoring Sweden's ARN, and Råd & Rön's airline articles of 2019 and 2024 do not mention them. Spies is not on the Danish package holiday board's list of tour operators that ignore its decisions. Across all travel companies, ARN's decisions were followed in 73 % of cases in 2025.

Step by step

1. Reply to Sunclass in writing. Claim the amount per passenger and ask for the delay code, the timeline and the evidence for the reason it gave.
2. Claim any price reduction from the tour operator separately if you lost holiday time, and tell each company what the other has paid.
3. Wait for the answer: Sunclass says 6 to 8 weeks. See airline not responding.
4. Go to the board for the country where the disruption happened. Sunclass is Danish, so in Finland contact ECC Finland before KRIL. In Sweden, ARN may decline a non-resident's complaint about a non-Swedish airline; then use the ECC in your own country. Transportklagenemnda takes any flight to, from or within Norway, via www.reiselivsforum.no. In Denmark, use Trafikstyrelsen with MitID. See the Nordic complaint boards and EU261 time limits.

When it is worth it, and when not

Strong: a technical fault, a strike by Sunclass's own staff, a knock-on delay from an earlier flight, or a deduction for a tour operator payment that covered something else.

Weaker: a documented ban by an authority or airport closure, where Sunclass got you home as fast as it could. Not sure? Try the rejection checker.

Appeal My Flight writes the reply to Sunclass and the board complaint for €29 per booking, however many passengers. You send it yourself and keep the payout. We cannot promise an outcome.

FAQ

Ving says the delay is the airline's problem. Is that right?

For EU261 compensation, yes. Claim from Sunclass, the airline that flew you. A price reduction for lost holiday time is still Ving's responsibility.

Our return flight from Thailand was late. Are we covered?

Yes. Sunclass is an EU airline, so its flights into the EU are covered as well as its flights out.

Sunclass offered a voucher. Do I have to take it?

No. Compensation is paid in money unless you agree in writing to accept something else.

Got the airline's reply? Paste it into the rejection checker and see what EU court rulings say about their excuse.