– We are experiencing a huge increase in orders, communications consultant Grete Kruse Roald in Norwegian tells news. Norwegian already noticed the increase when the danger of a strike was reported. But when the strike became a reality today, it took off completely. – Between 12.00 and 15.00 today, we sold five times as many tickets as we did in the same period a week ago. That is a fairly large increase, says Kruse Roald. Widerøe is also busy. – Immediately after the strike was a fact, we received an increase of over 600 percent of inquiries to our customer center, says information manager Catharina Solli in Widerøe. – Prices go up According to NTB, 161 SAS flights in Norway will be canceled on Tuesday as a result of the pilot strike. Jacob Pedersen, head of research at Danish Sydbank, believes the strike has thrown SAS into a huge, life-threatening crisis. Kruse Roald at Norwegian says they hope for a solution soon, despite the company benefiting from the competitor’s conflict. Because with a large demand, prices also go up. – Our prices are set in a combination of supply and demand. When there are few tickets left and close to departure, prices go up. We are seeing an increase in some ticket prices right now. Some examples: If you want to go from Oslo to Northern Norway in the next few days, it will cost you about 5000 kroner for one ticket with Norwegian to Tromsø or Bodø. If you can get tickets at all. Several departures to the north are already sold out in the next few days. It is expensive to get out of the country as well. And tickets are even harder to get there. – It’s starting to get pretty full. We do what we can, but to some of the typical holiday destinations it starts to get picked out, says Kruse Roald. If you want to go from Oslo to Alicante you will not find a free ticket until Saturday. It costs almost 9000 kroner. Tickets to Palma are available on Friday for a little over 4,000 kroner. Kruse Roald says that Norwegian would have liked to have set up more departures, but: – We have the planes we have, so unfortunately we do not have the capacity for that. You are entitled to this Just after the strike became a fact, SAS employees at Oslo Airport began handing out an information letter to travelers. It says they have three alternatives. Cancel the ticket and get it refunded. Rebook for a later flight. Then you must contact customer service after the strike is over. If you have to travel, for example if you are stranded at your destination, you can arrange your own itinerary and apply for compensation from SAS. The cost of the new trip must then be in the same price range as the original. – It is important to follow the information that comes from the airline, explains consumer lawyer at the Consumer Council, Thomas Iversen. – You will receive information from the airline if the trip has been canceled and what rights you have. The Consumer Council advises people not to cancel their trip themselves, and reminds that travel insurance does not cover losses as a result of strikes. – If you cancel yourself, you lose the right to a refund of the tickets, which you are entitled to if you wait until the plane is canceled by the company, Iversen says. He points out that you have several choices if the trip is canceled and you can also claim compensation according to certain rules. You can get help for this on the Consumer Council’s website.
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