Never before has the future of Norway’s admittedly “absurd” duty-free shopping system been more vulnerable to permanent shutdown. After living without travel abroad during the past Corona year, many claim the time is now ripe to do away with the duty-free quotas such travel has allowed. The debate over what Norwegians call “taxfree” has raged […]
OSL closes off terminal areas
November 19, 2020
Norway’s gateway airport in Oslo, OSL Gardermoen, has lost so much traffic and business during the Corona crisis that it’s closing off large areas of terminals that only recently opened after a NOK 2 billion expansion. The goal is to cut costs until traffic picks up again, which may not happen until 2022 or beyond. […]
US border patrol officers unwelcome
June 11, 2020
The Norwegian government has decided against allowing US border patrol officers to operate on Norwegian soil at the country’s gateway airport, OSL Gardermoen. The so-called “preclearance” project, which would clear travelers for entry into the US before departure, had been under negotiation since 2017. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reported on Thursday that the project could have […]
New runway subject to legal test
March 5, 2020
Norway’s Greens Party, encouraged by how a court decision ruled against a new runway at Heathrow airport in London( LHR), is now keen to take runway expansion plans at Oslo’s main airport to court as well. The Greens claim that building a new runway at OSL Gardermoen would also violate climate laws. Greens spokesman Arild […]
‘Technical error’ halted air traffic
January 29, 2020
All air traffic north of Røros in central Norway was halted Wednesday afternoon because of what state airport agency Avinor called a “technical error.” Officials later claimed the disruption was not a result of any cyber attack “or other external things.” The air space over all of Northern Norway was closed for around 90 minutes […]
Airport garage fire started in diesel car
January 8, 2020
UPDATED: Airline traffic in and out of Stavanger’s main airport at Sola resumed on Wednesday, after a raging fire in the airport’s parking garage halted it on Tuesday afternoon and evening. Firefighters now believe the fire started in an older diesel car and spread quickly. Prime Minister Erna Solberg was among those stranded by the […]
Busy day and year at OSL Gardermoen
December 20, 2019
There were lots of delays and some cancellations at Norway’s gateway airport on Friday, as nearly 100,000 travelers flew to and from OSL Gardermoen. The year itself was wrapping up with yet another decline in actual landings and departures at Norwegian airports, but more passengers. Friday was expected to be “the only really traffic-heavy day” […]
Airports asked to restrict alcohol sales
October 3, 2019
Flights attendants at both Norwegian Air and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) are asking state airports agency Avinor to crack down both on their bars and tax-free sales of alcoholic beverages. They’re tired of having to deal with drunken passengers on board flights, and claim it threatens airline safety. Flight attendant unions want to forbid sales of […]
Unruly passenger forced emergency landing
August 15, 2019
A man in his 60s went amok on board a commercial airliner as it was flying over the North Sea on Thursday morning, prompting the pilot to make an emergency landing in Stavanger after the man tried to break into the cockpit. Norwegian police were still gathering details but reported that the incident was not […]
‘Flyskam’ won’t halt summer holidays
June 24, 2019
School’s out, Parliament has closed and Norway’s traditional month-long summer holiday period began this week with some welcome sunshine and warmer temperatures. Norwegians’ travel plans still don’t seem to be disrupted by flyskam, the new Swedish term for being ashamed to fly because of climate concerns. “Are we ashamed enough to drop flight plans?” asked […]
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