SHARE
COPY LINK

COVID-19

Norway tightens travel rules to limit import of Omicron Covid-19 variant

The Norwegian government has introduced new border rules, including a quarantine hotel stay for travellers arriving from parts of Africa, to try and limit the import of the recently discovered Omicron Covid variant.

Pictured is a plane at an airport.
The Norwegian government have introduced new rules to try and limit the import of the Omicron variant into the country. Pictured is a plane on the runway. Photo by Bao Menglong on Unsplash

New Covid testing and quarantine rules were introduced on Saturday to try and prevent the import of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, recently discovered and sequenced in South Africa, into Norway.

Norway is among a slew of countries in Europe that have enforced more rigid travel rules on countries in southern Africa to try and contain the import of the new variant, which experts fear vaccines may be less effective against due to a large number of mutations.

Everyone who arrives in Norway from, or after having stayed in, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) and Malawi will need to test for Covid-19 before travelling to Norway.

In addition, they will need to enter a quarantine hotel and isolate for up to ten days.

Arrivals can move from a quarantine hotel to their own home or another suitable quarantine location after taking a PCR test after day three.

After seven days, travellers will need to take another test. If this test comes back negative, they will be released from quarantine. Quarantine hotels in Norway cost 500 kroner a night for adults and 250 kroner for children aged between 10 and 17.

READ ALSO: EU health agency says Omicron variant poses ‘high to very high’ risk to Europe 

Those who have been in any of those countries after November 16th but arrived in Norway before November 27th will also need to get a PCR test if their most recent test was taken before the 27th.

Direct flights from these countries will also be banned. Diplomats and children under 18 travelling on their own are exempt from the new rules. In these instances, the current rules for non-EEA arrivals will apply.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

STRIKES

Fresh strike threat could ground flights from Norway

Aircraft technicians in Norway working for SAS, Norwegian, and Widerøe could strike, causing disruption for air traffic at the start of the summer holidays if mediation talks fail.

Fresh strike threat could ground flights from Norway

Beginning later this week, the union representing aircraft technicians at SAS, Norwegian, and Widerøe (Norsk Flyteknikerorganisasjonand) and the branch of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) responsible for the aviation industry, will have mediation talks on a collective bargaining agreement.

If an agreement isn’t agreed, 30 aircraft technicians will be taken out on strike – with more workers being taken out until an agreement is reached.

“The will to strike is great. If it is not resolved quickly, it is natural to register more,” Jan Skogseth, head of the union, told travel news publication Flysmart 24.

The strike could begin at midnight on Friday, disrupting air travel at the start of the school holidays in Norway. The strike could take aircraft out of rotation as there will be less staff to carry out essential maintenance on planes.

“The number of workers being taken out may sound low, but considering that there is already a shortage of aircraft technicians, a tight summer program at the same time as the holidays, it can quickly have a big impact when we have around 480 aircraft technicians in Norway in total,” Skogseth said.

However, he said that the strike would not affect flights that are critical to life and health. In 2022, the Norwegian government ordered an aircraft technician strike to an end after a strike escalation threatened to ground air ambulances.

When the Norwegian government orders a strike to end, a state body decides the outcome of the collective bargaining agreement and terms, such as wages.

Norway has seen several potential strikes averted in recent weeks. Both a pilot’s strike that would have affected Norwegian and an Avinor staff strike was resolved during mediation or mediation overtime.

SHOW COMMENTS