SHARE
COPY LINK

SAS

SAS pilots stop flying stranded Scandinavian travellers home

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) pilots will stop flying thousands of charter passengers home because they believe the airline has breached its side of the agreement as there are alternative travel options available.

SAS aeroplane
File photo of an SAS aeroplane. Photo: Javad Parsa/NTB/TT

The pilots say SAS has not complied with the agreement they entered into.

According to the agreement, the SAS Pilot Group (SPG), which represents the pilots, had said on Thursday they would break their strike so that SAS could operate a limited number of flights to destinations where there were few or no options for return.

Since then, thousands of charter passengers have been flown home from their destinations.

But this latest news puts an end to that.

“During the weekend, to our great surprise, we have seen that many flights are being deployed to popular and well-trafficked holiday destinations, such as Rhodes, Crete, Larnaca and Split, from where there are already alternative travel options,” SPG said in a press release.

“We find it regrettable that SAS is once again unable to comply with the agreement as intended, and SPG therefore finds itself forced to end the charter departures after the last flight today, 10 July 2022,” SPG stated in the press release.

“Fully booked”
But according to SAS, the alternatives are extremely limited and it’s not as easy to fly the charter passengers home as the pilots’ association says.

“Most things are fully booked. Bringing home an entire aircraft with 180 passengers and believing you will be able to book it on other planes, even if it is Crete or Split, is obviously not going to not work,” SAS communications director Karin Nyman said, Swedish newswire TT reported.

She pointed out that it is usually possible to make exceptions for charter passengers during a strike and believed it “unnecessary” to involve them in the conflict

“It shows a heartlessness. Charter travellers are hit much harder than other travellers as they are more difficult to rebook. Now we have to go back and see what we can do, but unfortunately, it is the customers who are the losers in this,” she added.

But SPG claims that SAS has, for commercial reasons, not tried to reallocate flight capacity to get the charter guests home, which was the aim of the agreement, Danish newswire Ritzau reported.

“Sad and negative”
Charter travel companies Ving and Apollo are both critical of SPG’s announcement.

“It was a sad and negative message for us. Now we are resuming the work of finding our own flight solutions instead,” said Claes Pellvik, communications manager at Ving, TT said.

“You get upset. I think everyone wants the parties to find a solution, but it feels like they are just finding more conflicts,” agreed Sandra Miller Kinge, communications manager at Apollo.

Since last Friday, Ving has received most of the passengers who were due to fly to Sweden, except for about 150 who were planned to fly on Monday and whose return travel is now uncertain.

And Apollo has about 300 passengers who would have flown to Sweden today, but who now have to wait to be told when they can return home.

No basis for real negotiations yet
Earlier today, the Norwegian SAS pilots’ trade union had a so-called status meeting with mediators in Stockholm, head of the union Roger Klokset confirmed to newspaper Verdens Gang (VG).

The meeting was at the initiative of Swedish mediators, and both parties were present, Klokset said.

It was said to have been about “clarifications of position”, but not negotiations.

“We have still not heard anything from SAS management that provides a basis for real negotiations,” he said.

Tonje Sund, communications manager for SAS Norway, said the airline was in contact with the mediators, TT reported.

On Friday, one of the mediators in the pilot conflict, Mats Wilhelm Ruland, said he would probably call the parties soon.

“Of course SAS wants to negotiate,” Sund said.

Around 1,000 SAS pilots from Denmark, Norway and Sweden went on strike on Monday after negotiations between them and SAS on wages and working conditions broke down. They offered to break the strike to fly stranded passengers home.

The airline has said that each day that the strike continues, 30,000 passengers will be affected

READ MORE:

 

Member comments

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

TRAVEL NEWS

What to know if you’re driving from Denmark to Germany this summer

Many people holidaying from Denmark in the customary ‘summer holiday’ month, July, choose to drive through Germany to reach their destination. Here’s how events in July 2024 could affect travel.

What to know if you’re driving from Denmark to Germany this summer

People driving through Germany – not least motorists from Denmark – are likely to experience more traffic and queuing than usual this July.

That is partly a result of additional measures in place during the Euro 2024 football tournament, including border controls.

Passports will be required for travel from Denmark to Germany for the duration of the European football championships, which take place in Germany between June 14th and July 14th, German authorities have previously said. The border controls — which also affect Germany’s other borders — will be in effect until July 19th.

Diversions are in place at some of the Danish road crossings, notably Frøslev, where signage has been set up to redirect drivers.

READ ALSO: Germany to check passports on Danish border during Euros

The border controls are not the only factor affecting traffic, with traffic around host cities for the tournament also heavier.

German motorists’ organisation ADAC recently published a traffic forecast for the summer.

“We expect a high level of traffic density and resulting queues this summer. Traffic has generally increased in recent years, and there is still a lot of road work. That combination inevitably leads to queues,” ADAC spokesperson Katharina Lucà said in a press release produced by Danish energy company OK.

Motorists should be prepared for tailbacks at most of the typically busy hubs, according to ADAC. These include Bremen, Dortmund and Cologne in western Germany. On the A7 Autobahn through the centre of the country – used by many Danes travelling south on holiday and north returning home – congestion is expected at Hamburg, Hanover, Frankfurt and Würzburg.

People driving from Zealand in Denmark are more likely to use the A9 Autobahn, which has better prospects with only the Nuremberg – Munich road likely to see delays.

READ ALSO: Here’s what you need to know about travel in Denmark in the summer of 2024

The map below shows where the congestion is expected.

Graphic: ADAC

ADAC also advises drivers to avoid busy sections on the days when Germany begins its own summer holidays. That includes the weekend of July 12th to 14th in several federal states, when ADAC says queues of up to four hours could occur at the hubs mentioned above.

“It will take a long time to drive through Germany during the day this summer, so allow plenty of time for the journey and take breaks every two hours, especially if there are small children in the car,” Lucà said to OK.

“We also recommend that you don’t drive excessive distances without stopping, so plan an overnight stay if possible,” she added.

 

SHOW COMMENTS