Beiruting News

Norwegian Air Shuttle, already plagued by costly flight delays on its long-haul routes, was forced to delay a flight to New York by five hours on Tuesday because of a hunt for a mouse in the cockpit.

"The pilots discovered a mouse on flight deck," spokeswoman Charlotte Holmbergh said on Wednesday. "We had to make sure that no cables or wires had been chewed.

"This does not happen very often, but it does happen from time to time."

Norwegian became the only European budget carrier last year to fly long-haul routes, but a string of technical troubles with its new Boeing 787 Dreamliners delayed many of its flights, leaving passengers stranded at airports from Bangkok to Florida.

The airline has since improved its reliability, but it runs its Dreamliners 18 hours a day, five to six hours more than traditional carriers, so even small delays can cause significant schedule disruptions.

"At least the mouse was caught," Holmbergh added.