The airspace over southern Norway is temporarily closed – major delays in air traffic

The airspace over the whole of southern Norway was completely closed early on Thursday morning as a result of a technical error at the Oslo Control Center. The error happened a little before 6.30. The cause was unknown, but Avinor ruled out that it was a computer attack.

At 8.40 some traffic could open up again.

– We are told that something will be opened up in the restrictions, and that some planes will be allowed to land now. This means that they have gained control over the airspace, but that there will still be strict restrictions, says communications manager Cathrine Fuglesang Framholt in Avinor to NTB at 8.40am.

– We have not been able to confirm that the error has been rectified and that it is 100 per cent in order, but we can open for some air traffic, she says.

She emphasizes that safety comes first.

– We are, after all, an insurance industry, where safety is always the first priority. We are opening for some traffic, but then it will take a long time before we are completely back to normal, she says.

– Priority will probably be given to flights that come from far away and are due to land, says Framholt, who among other things refers to a flight from New York to Oslo.

Several hours of downtime

At Oslo airport, the last flight took off at 6 o’clock, according to Avinor’s overview.

NTB spoke just after 6.30 a.m. to a passenger on a flight that was supposed to travel from Gardermoen to Zurich at 6.25 a.m., but where the pilot stated that air traffic control was down over the whole of southern Norway, and that the entire system was paralyzed.

While they waited for further information, coffee and food were served in the cabin. An hour and a half after the scheduled departure, the passengers were finally told that the flight to Switzerland had been canceled and that they had to leave the plane.

Norwegian informed TV 2 that they had to cancel a number of flights, and that they had been told that the airspace would be closed until 11 o’clock.

No data breach

It is currently unknown what caused the airspace to be closed. But it does not come from a data breach, according to Avinor.

– I can deny that it is. There are two systems that do not talk to each other as they should, says press officer Helene Wattanapradit Jensen in Avinor to NRK.

The National Insurance Agency (NSM) informed NTB earlier on Thursday morning that they had not received any information linking them to what is happening over the airspace in southern Norway.

Asking flight passengers to show up

Avinor has asked passengers to travel to the airports as usual.

– Act as normal if you do not receive any other message from your airline, says communications manager Framholt.

– We are doing what we can to find the fault and get traffic moving again. It is too early to say when that will happen, she told NTB just before 7 o’clock.

Framholt informs Bergensavisen that there are two computer systems at the control center that do not talk to each other as they should. As a result, air traffic in southern Norway cannot be controlled properly, and due to safety reasons the airspace had to be closed until further notice.

Rescue missions proceed as normal

The rescue helicopters will fly as normal on Thursday, rescue manager Jan Erik Skorte in the Norwegian Central Rescue Service told NRK on Thursday morning.

– If it is a question of life or death, we fly as normal – completely regardless of this, said the rescue leader.

Norsk Luftambulanse will not be affected by the flight stop, says press manager Per Håkon Solberg.

There were several planes in the airspace in southern Norway when the news came from Avinor.

Two planes landed at Oslo airport – one from Billund in Denmark and another from Førde – at 7.10am on Thursday morning. A number of subsequent flights nevertheless had possibly delayed landing times, according to the overview at the airport.

Will be kept updated

Norwegian’s press officer Silje Glorvigen tells VG that all their flights to and from Oslo have been hit. She does not have numbers on how many planes are involved.

– We keep our passengers updated on what is happening, via text message, she told the newspaper.

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

(©NPK)