The airspace over southern Norway is open again – major delays in air traffic

– Now we are at it again. All the planes that did not take off in the morning have now left, says Arne Johan Johnsen, airport manager at Kristiansand Airport Kjevik, to Fædrelandsvennen on Thursday morning.

For Kjevik, it was passengers who were going on flights to Oslo, Amsterdam and Bergen with Norwegian, KLM, Widerøe and SAS, respectively, who were affected by the airspace being closed.

– A situation has arisen where there are technical errors at the control center in Røyken, just outside Oslo. Due to these technical errors, the planes are standing all over southern Norway, Johnsen explained at 07:00 on Thursday.

The error has been corrected

The error that led to the airspace in southern Norway being closed has been corrected. Gradually, normal traffic will be opened, but there will be delays, says Avinor.

– The reason was a technical error at the Oslo Control Center. Due to the incident, there will unfortunately be delays throughout the day, Avinor stated at 9.35am.

Before 10 o’clock, four flights had taken off from Kjevik: Bergen 09.39 (Widerøe 06.05), Amsterdam 09.31 (KLM 06.10), Oslo 09.49 (Norwegian 06.50) and Oslo 09.45 (SAS 07.00).

Latest from Oslo Airport: 16 departures and 42 arrivals have been canceled at Oslo Airport. A great many flights have been given new departure times. Among the arrivals to Oslo, the flight from Kristiansand with SAS at 15.35 has been cancelled.

– It’s not over yet. There are probably many passengers who have chosen not to travel today, so there will be a lot of rebookings and changes for the airlines, says communications manager Cathrine Fuglesang Framholt at Avinor to VG.

– Safety most important

Arne Johan Johnsen is aware that there will be delays for Kjevik passengers throughout the day.

– The airlines and Avinor are doing their utmost to get started as quickly as possible – and get air traffic and passengers out of the way. Everyone is interested in as many people as possible coming with the planes, he says.

– What is the cause of today’s error?

– Avinor central will issue information about this.

Johnsen emphasizes that when errors occur, as on Thursday, it is important that things are 100 percent secure before air traffic is started again.

– Things have to take the time they take. The most important thing in our industry is safety, points out the airport manager.

45 fixed at Kjevik

Ole Østerdal, travel manager for Dag Aasbø Travel – which has headquarters in Sandefjord, had a travel group of 45 people in Kjevik who were affected by the airspace being closed.

His group will fly to Italy to take part in a cruise, on a cruise ship that departs on Friday.

– We met this morning and were not allowed to check in, because it was closed for check-in and the flight was cancelled, says Østerdal.

– How does this feel?

– It is frustrating that there has been a lack of information from Norwegian. But we can’t do anything from or to. The atmosphere is good in the group, says the tour guide.

– Alternative solutions are being worked on, he says.

Just after the interview, it becomes clear that the group will be flown on from Kjevik at 6pm on Thursday.

Thus, they will catch up with the cruise ship.

– In good company

Politicians Nicolai Østeby (H) and Robin Hansson (SV) were among those who were at Kjevik waiting for their flight to Oslo to take off.

They had been at the airport since 06:00 this morning.

– We have not received any information beyond what we have read in the media. But this will probably go very well, Østeby said at 09:00.

Hansson was also in good spirits.

– Delays notwithstanding, we are in good company. This happens, and safety must come first, he said.

At 09.44 Østeby sent the following message to Fædrelandsvennen:

“We’re on the plane now. Guess we’ll be up in the air soon.”

Exactly five minutes later they were in the air.

Lasted about three hours

Avinor tells NTB that the error happened a little before 06.30.

– We encourage all travelers to comply with the information they receive from their airline. We apologize for the inconvenience this causes, Avinor wrote in a press release at 06:46 on Thursday morning.

At 09.45 Avinor announced that the error had been corrected.

– The reason was a technical error at the Oslo Control Center. Due to the incident, there will unfortunately be delays throughout the day, Avinor stated at 9.35am.