Airline passengers landing from abroad in Oslo and continuing on to other destinations within Norway have been delayed and even missed their connecting flights this summer because of trouble with OSL Gardermoen’s new system for clearing customs. The various agencies involved blame one another when the system clogs up.
“We’re not causing the bottleneck,” insisted Trond Osland, head of customs (Tolletaten) at OSL to state broadcaster NRK. He blames Avinor, the state-owned administrator of Norway’s airports, claiming it lacks capacity for domestic transfers.
Baggage arriving in Oslo for transfer to domestic flights goes through customs clearance procedures that are more rigorous than the random checks of passengers who have Oslo as their final destination. All baggage is sent through X-ray screening via two beltways that get clogged on busy days.
Airline SAS claims the baggage is subjected to unnecessarily thorough examination. Many passengers have experienced problems with the system that was supposed to make it simpler for passengers connecting to domestic flights. They earlier had to collect their bags, go through customs themselves and then check them in again.
Avinor officials downplayed the delays on Thursday, adding that there would be improvements this fall. “We’re cooperating closely with all involved to make a better system even better,” Hans Petter Stensjøen of Avinor told NRK.
newsinenglish.no staff
