The case in summary SAS is launching a trial project with short-ticket flights to and from Longyearbyen on Svalbard. The cutting card should give a discount on flights. The trial period starts on 24 January and lasts until 27 March 2024. Leader of the youth council, Embla Abild, is positive about the measure. The chairman of the local board and the business manager believe that cheaper flight prices are important for the population and the business world. The Youth Council also hopes that there can be a clip card system for youth tickets. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Residents and businesses have long wanted the option of cheaper plane tickets to and from Longyearbyen. SAS is now launching a trial project. They will test a solution with clip cards on flights for permanent residents. This means that travelers to and from Svalbard can get a discount when buying several trips together. The leader of the youth council in Longyearbyen, Embla Ablid, is happy about that. – We think it is very positive. Tourism puts pressure on prices, and this means that it sometimes becomes quite expensive for permanent residents to travel. We hope that this arrangement here can make it a little cheaper to travel, she says to news. The youth council leader says they hope the new measure can contribute to standard prices in the high season. – There are permanent residents who have previously chosen not to travel down. If you have a family of four or five people, it suddenly becomes very expensive to travel. We believe that the scheme can contribute to more people having the opportunity to visit family and friends on the mainland. Flight prices between Oslo and Svalbard are often between NOK 3,000 and well over 5,000. Photo: Bernt Olsen / news Starting on Thursday this week For single tickets between Svalbard and Oslo, the price is usually between NOK 3,000-5,000. With the new offer, residents get a “guarantee” on the maximum price. The offer of clip cards starts already this week. The trial period initially runs until 27 March 2024. This is how it works: If you want ten clip cards for travel from Svalbard to Tromsø, you pay NOK 15,000 in advance and you are then left with ten “clips”. When you use your first clip, the remaining nine will have an expiration date one year in the future. You choose whether you buy clips for 10, 20 or 60 flights. This guarantees the price of the given route one year ahead. If you fly from Longyearbyen to Oslo, it is a cut to NOK 2,500. Longyearbyen – Tromsø costs NOK 1,500 per clip. If there is a family that is going to travel, then by contacting the SAS customer centre, they can use the clip card for several people. – It is important for SAS to support the local population and business. We want to have a good dialogue where we work towards common goals, says Irene Wright in SAS. – Important for business Local board leader in Longyearbyen says he is happy that SAS contributes to cheaper tickets. – This is fantastic news. This shows that it is useful to work well together, says local board chairman Terje Aunevik (V). Terje Aunevik is local board chairman in Longyearbyen. Photo: Ida Louise Rostad / news The local team leader says that both flexibility and the cost level of flight prices are important for the population. – This can simply contribute to making it a little easier to live and run a business here, says Aunevik. Business manager Lennart Kvernmo agrees. He says the trial scheme is short, but he hopes its use will give the airline grounds to continue it. – You can be overwhelmed by flight prices between Longyearbyen and Oslo or Tromsø. So this could be a particularly important offer, he says. – We have a young population on Svalbard. If the price becomes high for flying to and from Svalbard, it will be difficult for families with children to go on a longer holiday trip in Europe. Hoping for clipping cards for youth tickets The youth council leader says the council has not had clipping cards for flights up for political consideration. But after the offer became known, she has spoken to members of the council. SAS now offers coupon cards for cheaper flights at Svalbard Airport. Photo: Jon Olav Nesvold / NTB Ablid say they hope there can be a clip card system for youth tickets as well. – Youth tickets are not always available. Traveling on an adult ticket can quickly become quite expensive. If the clip card scheme proves to work, we will encourage the airlines to also have it for youth tickets.
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SAS launches clip cards on flights to and from Svalbard – news Troms and Finnmark
