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More than 200 flights in Norway cancelled due to employee dispute

Frazer Norwell
Frazer Norwell - [email protected]
More than 200 flights in Norway cancelled due to employee dispute
A file photo taken on July 17, 2009 shows a Boeing 737-800 of Low-cost airline Norwegian flying near Oslo airport in Gardermoen. Photo by AFP PHOTO / Kyrre Lien.

A lockout preventing all aircraft maintenance staff from attending work, which was brought in as a response to an ongoing strike, grounded more than 200 flights in Norway on Monday. 

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On Sunday, the Norwegian Confederation of Enterprise (NHO) introduced a nationwide lockout for air technicians in response to an ongoing strike. 

NHO’s lockout barred all aircraft maintenance staff nationwide from going to work and was brought in to try and force an agreement. 

More than 230 flights were cancelled due to the strike and lockout on Monday, newspaper VG reports. 

Widerøe is responsible for more than 200 of the cancellations, VG writes. The airline said it was grounding all short-haul flights until Monday afternoon at the earliest. However, Widerøe warned that all short-haul flights on Monday could be scrapped. 

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“Today, we will cancel the shortest flights on the short-haul network until this afternoon, but there is a high probability that all flights today will be cancelled,” communications manager for Widerøe, Cathrina Solli, told VG. 

READ ALSO: Lockout for aircraft technicians announced unless wage agreement can be reached 

The airline cancelled many more flights than the other affected airlines, SAS and Norwegian Air Shuttle, due to having more daily departures.

As a result of the lockout, Widerøe has frozen its rebooking service and will instead offer affected customers a straight refund. 

SAS cancelled 23 flights on Monday, while Norwegian is reported to have cancelled two. However, SAS has clarified that the flights it has cancelled are not due to the air technician situation. 

Travellers affected by the strike or lockout are advised to contact the airline they were supposed to be travelling with. 

READ MORE: What to expect when travelling through a Norwegian airport this summer

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