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Must travel for two days

– I have books, music and an audiobook with me, so I keep my spirits up. Fortunately, there is a nice view out the window, says Helene Vikingstad (23) to Dagbladet.

Vikingstad, who comes from Sola in Rogaland, was visiting a friend in Tromsø over the weekend. Sunday night she was to go home to Bergen.

Like many others in Tromsø, Vikingstad also had her plane canceled, as a result of the aircraft technician strike, ten minutes before she was actually to board the plane.

– There were many who were frustrated and abandoned. I received a message that I would be refunded, but that I could not rebook the plane. I also could not get an overnight stay in a hotel or money for food, she says.

It was NRK Troms and Finnmark who first mentioned the case.

– Norway lenghtwise

Vikingstad immediately started looking for more flights from Tromsø to Bergen, but there were no available flights until several days later. In addition, the tickets cost at least four times as much as the plane ticket she had bought for 1200 kroner.

Therefore, she chose to change both itinerary and means of transport to get home to Bergen. The trip home could therefore continue by bus on Monday morning.

When Dagbladet talks to Vikingstad, she is on the train from Trondheim to Oslo, very close to Støren station. From Oslo, the trip continues to Bergen, where she first arrives at 06.00 on Wednesday morning. Then the trip by transport has taken 43 hours and Vikingstad has been on the road for 60 hours.

BUS: After several canceled flights, there were many who, like Vikingstad, had to find alternative itineraries.  Photo: Private

BUS: After several canceled flights, there were many who, like Vikingstad, had to find alternative itineraries. Photo: Private
sea ​​view

– There have been several trains that have been delayed, so I arrive in Bergen later than planned. Fortunately, I have a holiday, so it’s okay to travel over several days, she says.

The journey home, which was supposed to be a flight of a few hours, has turned into three buses and three trains.

– I end up traveling almost all of Norway along, she says.

Nevertheless, Vikingstad is most upset that the price tag on the trip has become three times as expensive as the original price. Now she has paid 3600 kroner for the trip home, which she describes as a significant sum for her as a student.

She tells Dagbladet that several of those who were actually going to travel with her plane also ended up taking the bus to get on.

Delay after strike

On Tuesday morning, it became known that Minister of Labor Marte Mjøs Persen (Labor Party) has decided forced wage board in the conflict between the aircraft technicians in the Norwegian Aeronautical Engineers Organization (NFO) and the other party in NHO Luftfart. Thus, the aircraft technician strike is over.

Nevertheless, there are still major delays in air traffic. From Tromsø, many flights are fully booked, and prices have risen sharply. Several of the airlines also do not have available departures until the weekend.

As a result of the strike informs both Widerøe and Norwegian that they will continue to struggle with backlogs.

LOCKOUT: The Consumer Council says that more than just the plane ticket can be refunded. Video: Dagbladet TV. Host: Håvard TL Knutsen.
sea ​​view

– It will take days, and it can take weeks before we are where we would have been without the conflict, says communications manager Catharina Solli in Widerøe to NTB, after the aircraft technician conflict ended with a forced wage board.

Widerøe has had to cancel several hundred departures as a result of the conflict, and will continue to struggle with backlogs to get everything back in place.

– Now the passengers will be able to be rebooked for new flights. During the strike, we have only been able to cancel, the communications manager explains about the difference between before and after.

Norwegian also states that they expect some backlog of technical maintenance.

– The goal is still to complete all flights on the program, the company writes in a press release.

In addition, there are high expectations that the SAS pilots will be taken out on strike from 29 June, if the pilots and SAS cannot reach an agreement.

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