The short version
- A technical error at Oslo Control Center led to the airspace in southern Norway being closed on Thursday morning. At 09.30 it opened again.
- Significant delays are expected. All flights to and from Oslo were affected.
- The cause of the problem stems from two systems not interacting, not a computer attack.
- Avinor asks travelers to follow information from the airlines and meet at the airport as usual.
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Gry Haugen is one of many who has had his flight cancelled. She herself takes it all with crushing calm, and calls it a luxury problem.
Nevertheless, Haugen can tell about chaos:
– There is a lack of information from the airport. There are queues everywhere, which is not surprising. We were told to go out of the foreign department to collect our luggage. But here there is an enormous amount of suitcases. It’s chaos. If you can’t find your own, you have to stand in another long queue, she tells VG.
After the airspace in southern Norway was closed for several hours on Thursday morning, it opened up again around 09.30.
– This means that we can start traffic as normal. There will still be major delays throughout the day, so it will take some time to get the flights started, says Monica Fasting in Avinor to VG.
The reason why air traffic stopped on Thursday morning is a technical error at the Oslo Control Center located in Røyken.
This affects air traffic throughout Norway. All flights to and from Oslo were affected.
At 11am, 13 departures and 43 arrivals were canceled at Oslo Airport, according to Avinor’s website. In addition, more than 100 flights have been rescheduled.
– 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.
Avinor asks travelers to follow the information from the airlines and to travel to the airport as usual.
For those traveling on Friday, the message from Avinor is to sit quietly on the boat: The airline will let you know if there are any changes.
Raymond Knudsen was supposed to take the flight from Stavanger to Oslo on Thursday to attend his aunt’s funeral. The flight was supposed to leave at 06:30.
– I sat on the plane for two hours before we were told that it was cancelled, he says to VG.
Knudsen was rebooked to an evening flight, but there is no point, he says:
– The funeral is at twelve o’clock, so I won’t make it anyway. It is very sad, he says.
– Let’s hope it works!
Kathrine Ilebakke (28) has been waiting at Gardermoen since 8am. She is studying hotel management and is going on a study trip to Zurich in Switzerland.
When she talks to VG, it is just known that air traffic is opening up again.
– My flight is due to leave at 11.05, and we haven’t gotten past check-in yet. Let’s hope it goes! There is a lot of chaos here, she tells VG at 9.30am.
– How has it been to wait so long?
– I do not like it. It’s very boring just sitting here. All the seats are taken, there are no coffee cups in the one cafe, it’s really just tiring.
Not computer attacks
Ylva Celius in Avinor tells VG that they can rule out computer 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.
Avinor is responsible for 43 state-owned airports as well as the air traffic control service for civil and military aviation in Norway.
Norwegian previously announced that the airspace would be temporarily closed until 11:00 a.m., but fortunately for travelers it was opened before then.
The airline has had to cancel several flights.
– We keep our passengers updated on what is happening via text message, says press officer Silje Glorvigen to VG. It is unclear how many planes have been affected.
SAS informed VG at 08.45 that there were 41 flights affected by the error at Avinor.
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