Folkehøgskole students were ready to go home to their families. But the flight was canceled and most of the school is now stuck on Svalbard.
– We were ready to go home to our families, but our flight was canceled and now I won’t get on a plane until Monday afternoon, says Hilde Maria Nicolaisen (51) on the phone with VG.
She is director of a boarding school at Svalbard Folkehøgskole and sat down late at the airport on Friday evening with 40 folkehøgskole students.
– We have been here since 1pm on Friday and were supposed to be on Norwegian flight DY 397 departing at 2:25pm. But just before they were told the flight had been cancelled, Nicolaisen says.
The school has closed for this year and the students, who come from all over the country, were due to travel to Oslo via Tromsø on Friday, he says.
UP flight radar24 it appears that the plane did not leave Tromsø on Friday. He was supposed to leave at 12. Hon Oslo Gardermoen Airport it was the freezing fog that caused the delays on Friday. It was snowy up north, like he has now come south.
According to Nicolaisen, however, SAS took off the flight at 3pm on Friday.
– What information did you receive from Norwegian?
– They said very little. We were suddenly informed that the flight had been cancelled. Just before 10pm, I received a text saying I will have a seat on a flight on Monday at 4.15pm, she says.
Ruined plans
VG spoke to student Eirik Rødal from Kristiansand on Saturday. He says that all students will have new flights in the coming days:
– I was lucky and took a new flight on Sunday, while others took a new flight on Monday and Tuesday.
He explains that everyone has been dying to go home now, but it’s worse for some people who have had big plans screwed up:
– There is someone who misses his brother’s wedding. Another cannot meet her sister until she leaves on a nine-month journey. Still others do not fly to New Zealand or Switzerland.
Get a hotel
Nicolaisen says they are experiencing no hardships and are well looked after and have all been allocated hotels in Longyearbyen.
– But of course we’d rather go home!
There are many travel plans that have to be abandoned because of this, says Nicolaisen.
– I was supposed to fly to Sunnmøre with my two sons, but that trip went awry, says Nicolaisen.
What he reacts to is that it is not possible to set up an extra plane to bring people home.
– I understand that you can do nothing about the weather and snow chaos across the country. But we’ve heard air traffic is back on track, she says.
He also points out that flying is, quite literally, the only way out of Svalbard. Elsewhere, there is usually alternative transport, but not from Svalbard.
Get compensation
Norwegian Press Officer Anna-Lena Nordling says Friday was a real winter day with lots of delays. You know the situation on Svalbard.
– It’s a long time to wait for such passengers. Some have been rebooked onto the next next flight which departs on Sunday. While others have to wait until Monday. This is very regrettable, but fortunately the delay is very rarely that long, says Nordling.
He says the weather was not the reason for the cancellation. In this case it was a technical error which meant that the plane did not take off from Tromsø bound for Svalbard.
Never so bad as to be of no use!
As the reason for cancellation was technical, passengers are entitled to compensation. According to Nordling, passengers can find information on Norwegian’s website. Up to the departure they will also be covered for the hotel and catering, of which they have received information.
However, the compensation comes in addition, in this case!
– Would it have been possible to set up an extra plane?
– I don’t actually know, but we most likely won’t have the opportunity to do it this weekend because it’s the weekend before Christmas and all the planes are probably full, he says.
