For three years, a group of four friends had been planning a trip to Iceland.
Astrid Olafsdottir, 58, who has half her family there, can’t wait to show her friends the country.
The trip was booked last winter and Astrid was supposed to travel weeks in advance to visit family. On July 3, others were scheduled to arrive in Reykjavík, but in June they received word that Their SAS flight was cancelled.
– There is a terrible mess with the flight route. A lot of rebooking and management, said Astrid.
One of the three friends didn’t take the risk that the airline would rebook him on another flight, and chose to get the amount refunded, and then booked a much more expensive ticket with Icelandair.
Stated on top of the SAS queue: – Frustrating
The other two chose to believe that SAS would rebook them on another flight. After spending a few thousand extra, it worked for one of them.
Do not follow
The last in the tour group, Anna, traveled from Bergen to Oslo on July 2. In the early hours of July 3, a message arrived that the flight to Iceland had been cancelled.
He walked anyway at Oslo Airport, where, he said, it was a complete mess. There he stood in line at the SAS counter, before finally closing it to more customers.
– RUIN THE MOOD: Astrid Olafsdottir and her two friends have a fun trip to Iceland, even though the last person in the group isn’t allowed to join. – It definitely dampens the mood. Private photo
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Sunday 3 July was the day before SAS pilots went on strike, but even before that the airline canceled a number of flights due to staffing issues.
Standing again at the airport in Gardermoen, Anna was offered a plane ticket back to Bergen. He never made it to Iceland with the rest of the gang.
– It definitely dampens the mood of all of us. We keep thinking about it, Astrid told Dagbladet.
This happens when the flight strike is over
Together they had booked hotel accommodation and bus transportation, rented cabins and cars, and so on. They had planned a number of excursions, one of which was to Landmannalaugar, where they would take a two-day trip to Thorsmrk. The journey is complete despite the fact that they lost one person.
– The ongoing pilot strike has grave consequences for travelers, with more than 30,000 passengers affected every day. We had a fun and adventurous trip because of that, though it’s a shame Anna couldn’t join. We had booked two double rooms, but there were only three. We are constantly reminded that we are missing one.
– Very tragic
– Did you talk to Anna after you got home?
– Yes, of course he is very sad, but he has a nice mountain trip at home in Norway. How tragic, said Astrid.
The press manager at SAS, Tonje Sund, had previously stated that he had not had the opportunity to examine all individual cases, but apologized for any inconvenience their passengers had experienced.
– In general, we recommend that you always double-check that the contact information you provide is correct, so that you can be contacted if anything unexpected happens. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience our customers have experienced.
– Not enough
The return trip with SAS was also cancelled. This time because of the strike.
Astrid said that there was chaos at the airport in Reykjavík, but she ended up rebooking her tickets for another company. 16 hours later he was at home in Vestlandet.
– That’s the least of the problems, he said.
Astrid is now determined to make up for the trip, so that Anna too can experience what she calls Iceland’s “magical” realms.
The SAS strike has entered its 13th day. For four days, the parties have been mediating, but so far have not reached a solution.
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