At noon on Thursday, 16 departures and 42 arrivals were canceled at Oslo Airport. In addition, a number of flights had new departure times.
The reason is supposed to be technical problems at the control center in Oslo.
– There are two systems that do not talk to each other, which means that the air traffic controllers cannot send the flight plan over to the planes, Avinor press officer Ylva Celius Trulsen elaborates to Teknisk Ukeblad.
The airspace over southern Norway was gradually opened from 09:35. When the error paralyzed air traffic in the south for several hours. The delays will last throughout the day.
– 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.
For those who will be traveling tomorrow, the message from Avinor is to sit quietly in the boat. The airline will notify you if there are any changes.
Norwegian works with rebookings
Norwegian also confirms several delays.
– We expect there to be delays throughout the day, and there may be cancellations, senior communications advisor Eline Hyggen Skari at Norwegian told NTB at 10.30am.
They are working on rebooking passengers who have had their flight cancelled. You can also request a refund if you prefer.
Hyggen emphasizes that those affected will be informed directly by Norwegian. She encourages travelers to meet at the airport as usual.
– We are working to get the customers off the ground, she says.
Photo: Hege Pauline Hovig/NTB” loading=”lazy”/>
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 06:30 with a passenger on a flight that was supposed to travel from Gardermoen to Zurich at 06:25, but where the pilot stated that air traffic control was down over the whole of southern Norway, and that the entire system was paralysed.
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 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.
Not hacking
The reason for the closure was unknown for a while, but Avinor stated that it was not due to a data breach.
– 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 Security 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.
Rescue missions proceed as normal
The rescue helicopters were able to fly as normal on Thursday morning, rescue manager Jan Erik Skorte in the main rescue center 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 was not affected by the flight cancellation, stated 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 07.10 on Thursday morning. However, a number of subsequent flights had significantly delayed landing times, according to the airport’s records.
Kept up to date
Norwegian’s press officer Silje Glorvigen told VG that all their flights to and from Oslo are affected. She does not have figures 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 as well as the air traffic control service for civil and military aviation in Norway.
also read
Concern: – We have called for a plan B
