Both Norwegian, SAS and Widerøe are affected by the strike among aircraft technicians, which took a dramatic turn on Tuesday.
The airlines use technicians organized by the Norwegian Aircraft Technician Organization (NFO), who strike for higher wages. In total, there are just over 400 aircraft technicians in Norway.
The new airline Flyr, which had its first departure a year ago, has not been affected by the strike.
The reason is that the company does not have employees who are organized in NFO. Instead, Flyr uses maintenance company Sam Aero.
Last: NFO applies for exemption from lockout for ambulance aircraft technicians
Ticket sales are increasing
Anita Svanes, communications director at Flyr, tells Nettavisen that ticket sales have picked up speed in light of the strike.
– We have for a long time seen a strong increase in bookings and sales, and we already have a number of sold-out flights, says Svanes.
Flyr registered a ten percent increase in the number of passengers and many sold-out flights from Monday 13 June to Monday 20 June. Since then, the pressure has been evenly high, according to Svanes.
Flyr has not been in the habit of having sold-out aircraft this spring: In both April and May, the airline filled around 62 per cent. In comparison, the competitor Norwegian filled around 79 per cent of the aircraft in the same period.
Flyr has a fleet of ten aircraft, and had an average of nine operational aircraft in May.
Sam Aero, which was established in 2004, has bases at Gardermoen, Arlanda in Stockholm and Landvetter in Gothenburg. The company also provides services to airlines such as Emirates, KLM and Finnair.
Read more: Here are the cancellations on Wednesday
Cancellations and lockout
On Wednesday, at least 24 flights at Norwegian and Widerøe were canceled as a result of the strike among aircraft technicians in NFO. At SAS, everything is currently going as normal.
On Tuesday, NHO and NHO Luftfart announced a lockout for the aircraft technicians in an attempt to force NFO back to the negotiating table. A lockout will mean a work stoppage for all NFO’s aircraft technicians, and could have major consequences for travelers.
– There is no doubt that if a lockout becomes a fact, it will not take long before most of our planes are on the ground, Catharina Solli in Widerøe told NTB when the news became known.
On Tuesday, NFO applies for a dispensation from the lockout for, among others, all aircraft technicians in Babcock Scandinavia Engineering, technicians in Medevac in SAS, as well as technicians needed to maintain planned ambulance transport in northern Norway.
