Flying from London Gatwick to Copenhagen on Norwegian Air

Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737-800. Photo / Getty Images

Jonathan Norman flies aboard Norwegian Air from London Gatwick to Copenhagen.

The plane: Boeing 737-800.

Class: Economy.

Price: $300 per adult.

On time: No. Delayed by 20 minutes but some will feel this was my fault.

My seat: 7A.

Fellow passengers: A couple of women in front of us tutted their way through the flight at our temerity in having an 18-month old baby with us. The family alongside were much friendlier.

How full: Only two seats available when we boarded and they were for us.

Entertainment: None, but only a 90-minute flight.

The service: Staff at the gate were absolutely lovely.

Food and drink: Tasty ham-and-cheese panini and a good strong cup of tea.

The toilets: The waste disposal wasn't big enough to deal with a full nappy. I will say no more.

Luggage: Didn't accompany us. Despite assurances to the contrary nor did it arrive on the follow-up flight. Turned up 28 hours late.

The airport experience: Easily the worst airport I've encountered. Crazy queue at Gatwick for check-in meant I was directed to the bag drop machine which proceeded to crash as it printed out my baggage stickers. It meant I only had one ticket and the assistant I turned to for help proved to be of no assistance whatsoever. Using a manner that indicated delight at my plight she told me I must have only purchased one piece of luggage for check-in. When I proved this wasn't the case she dismissed me to the back of the queue.

I hunted out someone who could help but in doing so left my bags unattended. When I returned my original tormentor had been joined by an even more horrendous individual.

Both of them took turns berating me for leaving my bags in an airport. I got bored apologising and was banished to the back of the queue again.

By now the clock was very definitely ticking and with my wife and child having a similarly tough time trying to get through the family lane in departures (the scanner is too small for buggies to fit through) we were in danger of missing our flight. So the last thing I needed was for the baggage carousel to break down. I was sent to aisle 23 where the same thing happened. The demeanour of the bored-looking attendent suggested it happened a lot and he didn't care one jot that my bags were unlikely to make the flight. I finally got through departures with 25 minutes to go and arrived at Gate 5 with a single minute to spare. Unfortunately my wife and child were nowhere to be found. It is only thanks to the wonderful Norwegian Air staff who opted for mercy rather than punishment that we boarded the flight 10 minutes after check-in should have closed.

However Norwegian Air then fell well short of acceptable standards of customer care when it came to reuniting us with our luggage.

Would I fly again? Only if I had to.