Airspace temporarily closed over southern Norway

The short version

Technical failure at Oslo Control Center causes air traffic disruptions throughout Norway.
All flights to and from Oslo are affected, and significant delays are expected.
The cause of the problem stems from two systems not interacting, not a data attack.
Avinor asks travelers to follow information from the airlines and meet at the airport as usual.

Avinor asks travelers to follow the information from the airlines and to travel to the airport as usual.

– It is impossible to say how long this will last, says communications manager at Avinor Cathrine Framholt to VG.

The reason why air traffic is at a standstill on Thursday morning is a technical error at the Oslo Control Center located in Røyken, she says.

This affects air traffic throughout Norway. All flights to and from Oslo are affected.

– Significant delays are expected. Duration is currently unknown, writes Avinor in a press release.

– We apologize for the inconvenience this causes. This is all the information we have at the moment. We will come back with more information, they add.

At 07.41, Norwegian reports to VG that the airspace will be temporarily closed until 11.00.

The airline must also cancel several flights.

SAS has not yet answered the phone on Thursday morning.

TOMT: This is what air traffic looked like over southern Norway at 07:00. Photo: Flightradar24

At 07.35 several planes approach landing in Oslo. Several planes were in the airspace in southern Norway when the news came from Avinor. These will probably land.

Are you affected by the flight chaos? Contact us here

Several have left the plane

Simen Stensås is on flight DY741 from Vernes to Oslo. They were supposed to take off at 06.35, but have been told that the new planned departure time is around 10:42.

Photo: Private

– Several have made the choice to get off the plane, writes Stenås in an SMS to VG.

He says that the crew has tried to find other ways to get there, such as flying over Sweden.

Missing the flight to Los Angeles

Tor Inge Moseid is going to Los Angeles – with a stopover in Paris. He has already realized that he will not make the next flight to Los Angeles.

So far, he and his wife have been sitting on the plane at Gardermoen for over an hour.

– Now we get breakfast here, he says.

Moseid believes there is no crisis in having to spend a night in Paris.

– They have told us that the airspace is closed, and that they cannot say anything, says Moseid.

Chris Liestøl and his gang of friends have driven five hours from Kristiansand to Oslo to catch a flight to Turkey that was supposed to leave at 06.30.

– We have been driving all night and were really ready for beer and sun. We have several agreements down there that we had to meet, but now we can’t do any of the parts, says Liestøl, who is still sitting on the plane at Gardermoen.

Chris Liestøl is still sitting at Gardermoen – almost two hours after the plane should have taken off. Photo: Private

Norwegian’s press officer, Silje Glorvigen, says that all their flights to and from Oslo will be affected.

– We keep our passengers up to date on what is happening via text message, she tells VG.

Glorvigen does not have figures on how many planes are involved.

Not data attacks

Ylva Celius in Avinor tells VG that they can rule out data attacks. The problem originates from within the system.

– It is purely a technical challenge with two systems that do not talk to each other. We are working hard with troubleshooting.

DELAYED: Several flights to and from Oslo are affected. Photo: Screenshot

Framholt in Avinor asks travelers to follow the information they receive from the airlines, and to meet at the airport as usual if they are not told otherwise.

VG has received messages from several travelers who say that their flights at various airports in Norway are delayed in the morning hours.

Avinor is responsible for 43 state-owned airports as well as the air traffic control service for civil and military aviation in Norway.