– A trip from hell – VG
What was supposed to be a three and a half hour long flight to Montenegro, became a turbulent journey of over twelve hours.
From SAS cut 4,000 flights this summer the family was rebooked from a direct flight between Oslo and Montenegro – and to Oslo-Copenhagen, and then Copenhagen-Montenegro
– We were told about this a few weeks ago. Then we had the choice whether we wanted to cancel or bet that it would go well. We did not think it would be like that, says Ann Helen Nøhr (34) to VG.
The travel changes were to present several problems: It all started when the flight from Oslo to Copenhagen was delayed by two hours, from 13.35 to 15.20.
In Copenhagen, they got on the plane to Montenegro, which was also delayed by more than an hour from 15.35 to 17.15. When they arrived in Montenegro, the plane did not reach its so-called landing slot at the airport.
Landing slot is the amount of time a plane can land at the airport, load and unload passengers and travel. These are commercially assigned to the airlines.
Pending a new landing slot, passengers had to sit inside the plane until they received a new message. With a five-year-old in the party, it can be challenging.
– This is the first time my five-year-old is flying. Luckily we have a Nintendo Switch with us, but everyone is starting to get quite bored.
Eventually the plane got a new «castle», but at that time, the airport would be closed and passengers could not get off at a closed airport.
Bus from Dubrovnik
Thus, the plane was sent to Dubrovnik instead. To get back to Montenegro, they have to take the bus back, a trip that takes around three and a half hours.
– It’s a trip from hell. Finally we had to go out and travel, it will also be candy, says Nøhr in despair.
– We dread the return trip already. If there is a strike, we are terrified of anything that happens, she tells VG.
– We were told that we would get food and drink for free on the plane, but they had almost nothing.
She says they got a piece of pizza which they shared on four, a bag of chips and to drink on sharing.
– There was no dope paper on the toilet, and there was a lot of turbulence.
When the plane landed in Dubrovnik, the family had been on the road for twelve hours.
An hour after landing in Dubrovnik, they get on the bus, but the family has to register and go through the border control to get out of Croatia and into Montenegro.
The bus gets stuck for almost an hour in line at the border.
Bad communication
Nøhr says that the communication from the airline has been poor.
– We only get an SMS that things are changing, we also have to quickly adjust. Besides that, we have received minimal help.
VG has been in contact with SAS, which responds as follows:
– We apologize for the inconvenience these traffic disruptions caused to the family. In terms of travel, this summer is a little more demanding than usual, when an entire aviation industry has to go up in the air again after years of pandemic – this applies to the entire industry, the entire world, and the entire value chain, writes Tonje Sund, press manager for SAS in Norway, in a mail.
– We encourage you to take care of all receipts for any additional costs and contact customer service to apply for a refund. SAS will always follow the rules and framework that apply to such cases, so we recommend contacting us.