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What changes about travel to and from Norway in 2024

New flight rules, new travel rules, the currency and more are among the changes when travelling to and from Norway in 2024. 

Published: 27 November 2023 16:28 CET
Updated: 28 December 2023 10:00 CET
Pictured is a Norwegian Air flight.
Here's what's changing about travel to and from Norway this year. Pictured is a Norwegian Air flight. Photo by Kit Suman on Unsplash

New routes from Norwegian Air 

Norwegian Air has announced a number of new routes from Norway next year.

Next summer, there will be regular flights between Oslo Gardermoen, the largest airport in Norway, and Lyon, Montpellier, Zadar, Milas/Bodrum and Basel. The route from Oslo to Wroclaw will also make a return in 2024. 

The route to Lyon will be the second such offering from Gardermoen after Spanish airline Volotea launched its route earlier this autumn. 

Travellers from Sandefjord will benefit from two new routes next year. Travellers can take direct trips to Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona. The flights from Torp join the Norwegian flights to Alicante and Malaga.

Passengers from Stavanger Sola will be able to enjoy flights to Milan/Bergamo.

While the flights for new routes don’t take off until next year, tickets are already on sale.

Meanwhile, there will be new routes from Tromsø to Berlin, Paris and Bergamo/Milano from January 15th. 

Airfare will become more expensive 

Flying in and out of Norway will likely become more expensive next year. This is because the fees charged to airlines to use Norwegian airports will be increased to help keep state-owned airport operator Avinor afloat. 

Industry experts believe this will lead to increased airfares as the increased costs for airlines will be passed onto passengers. 

This may be offset by a reduction in the air passenger tax. The air passenger tax is directly applied to tickets and costs 80 kroner for flights within Europe and 320 kroner for flights outside of Europe. 

Norse Air resumes flights to the US

Norse Air has paused a number of its long-haul flights for the winter. The direct routes from Oslo to New York and Los Angeles have been paused until the summer. When the New York flight returns, it will fly three times a week from May 16th. 

The Los Angeles route will also resume in the spring. 

Norway’s krone is unlikely to strengthen significantly 

Norway’s weak krone struggled throughout 2023. Next year, things are still not set in stone. 

The weak Norwegian krone could fall further next year, or it could strengthen. Even if it does strengthen, it is unlikely to do so massively. This means those travelling to Norway next year can enjoy a favourable exchange rate. 

READ ALSO: Five reasons why 2024 will be a good time to visit Norway

EES border systems to enter service 

The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is a digital scheme to register non-EU citizens each time they cross the external borders of the Schengen Area by air, land or sea.

The EES will replace the manual stamping of passports with an electronic record of entries and exits. It will register the person’s name, type of travel document, fingerprints and facial images and the date and place of arrival and departure.

The system aims to tighten up border security, including the enforcement of the rule of maximum 90-day stays in any 180-day period for short-term visitors.

The European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS), expected six months later, will require people from visa-exempt countries who travel to the Schengen area for short stays to apply for an authorisation before departure.

The EES will arrive between quarters three and four of 2024. The ETIAS isn’t expected to arrive until 2025. Reporting in the UK media suggests Sunday, October 6th 2024 as the launch date for the EES, although this has not been confirmed by the European Commission. 

The system is for the EU and Schengen area’s external borders, so doesn’t apply if you are travelling between Norway and Denmark. It would apply if entering Norway from from a non-EU, such as flying in from the US or UK. 

Norwegian to complete takeover of Widerøe

Norwegian Air’s takeover of its rival Widerøe has been approved by the Norwegian Competition Authority. The effects of the takeover will begin to be felt in the New Year. 

Norwegian has said that the takeover would make both airlines more attractive to passengers. Widerøe serves more than 40 small and medium-sized airports across Norway in rural, northern and fjord regions. The takeover connects Widerøe’s network to Norwegian’s national and international routes. 

When the takeover is complete, Widerøe will continue operating as an independent company and brand and will retain its headquarters in Bodø.

You will be able to buy a ticket on a train for the same price

The additional charge for buying a ticket onboard a train in Norway will be scrapped from January.

This means passengers will no longer be required to pay an additional 40 kroner when purchasing a ticket aboard the train.

Clampdown on foreign tour busses

New rules will clamp down on foreign tour buses operated by foreign drivers and companies starting from the New Year.

Foreign buses will only be allowed to carry passengers on Norwegian roads for a maximum of 20 consecutive days and 30 days in total. The change aims to prevent foreign companies from out-pricing Norwegian ones and prevent social dumping in the transport and tourism sector.

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EES PASSPORT CHECKS

EES border checks could undergo ‘soft launch’, UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a "soft launch" of the new EU border system – the Entry/Exit (EES) system - in October but authorities are still waiting for European Commission to confirm the start date, amid concerns over the delay of a new app.

Published: 4 May 2024 09:30 CEST
EES border checks could undergo 'soft launch', UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a soft launch of the new EU border system – the entry/exit (EES) system – on the assumption that it will go live on October 6th, ministers told a hearing at the House of Commons European scrutiny committee this week.

But the European Commission is expected to confirm the exact launch date of the new biometric checks for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area at some point this summer, they added.

“We are very much working on a basis whereby this policy will go live on the 6th of October. It is important that we plan for that eventuality. We are expecting to hear definitively from the European Union that ‘go live’ arrangement in the summer,” Tom Pursglove, UK Minister for Legal Migration and the Border told the committee.

The parliamentary committee is conducting an inquiry on the disruptions the system will cause in the UK.

Pursglove also said that “precautionary measures” have been agreed by the EU, that will be put in place in certain circumstances after the start of EES, for example if delays at the borders exceeded a certain length of time.

Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, said that in practice this meant a “soft launch” of EES for 6 months before “a full go live”. During that soft launch EU member states and the UK could deploy flexibility measures should problems occur.

“The likelihood is, after multiple delays, that the 6th of October will proceed” and the implementation looks “very different” compared to previous scenarios considering the flexibility allowed in the first 6 months, he argued.

No details were given on what these “flexible” measures would involve however. 

READ ALSO: Your questions answered about Europe’s EES passport checks

He conceded that “a lot of work” still needs to be done but the UK “should be as ready as everybody” and “better be at front of the queue”.

App not ready

During the meeting, it also emerged that a much-anticipated app that would allow remote pre-registration of non-EU citizens subject to the checks will not be available for testing until August “at best”, prompting concerns about the EES launch date.

“You don’t need to be a sceptic about future projects to think that the provision of the app in August for going live in October is optimistic,” Opperman said.

Ministers confirmed that the app will not be ready in time for October and the committee previously stated it might be delayed until summer 2025.

The app will facilitate pre-registration, but photo and fingerprints will still have to be taken at the border in front of a guard, the committee heard.

READ ALSO: How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Several MPs asked whether the entry into operation of the EES should be delayed again if technology is not ready. But Under-Secretary Opperman said the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

The main aim of EES is to increase security and to ensure that non-EU nationals visiting the Schengen area for a short-term do not stay more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

The entry into operation of the system has already been delayed several times and there have been calls from certain travel companies and national authorities to delay it again.

Under the new scheme, non-EU/EFTA travellers who do not need a visa will have to register their biometric data (finger prints and facial images) in a database that will also record each time they enter and exit the Schengen area.

Instead of having passports manually stamped, travellers will have to scan them at self-service kiosks before crossing the border. However, fingerprints and a photo will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing and there are concerns the extra time needed will generate long queues, especially in Dover, Folkestone and St. Pancras station in London, where there are juxtaposed French and UK border checks.

Progress in preparations

Minister Pursglove also updated MPs on ongoing preparations. He said some testing of the system will take place within days, 5 kiosks have been installed at St. Pancras station and are available for testing. “You are beginning to see the physical infrastructure appear,” he said.

Kiosks and extra lanes are also being created at the port Dover and it was agreed with the EU passengers travelling by coach will be checked away from the Eastern dock, where controls usually take place, allowing to gain space. The vehicles will then sealed and drive on the ferries.

MPs also discussed the infrastructure cost linked to the introduction of the EES. Opperman said all EU countries will have to make “huge investments” in their ports. In the UK, he argued, this will help “address problems that have existed for some time”. Because of this “massive investment”, in a few years time “Dover will be totally transformed,” he said.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

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