Oslo Airport — Oslo, Norway

Aare Kuusk Booking (Booking #8UPYF1) (Canada) - July 15, 2014
I would like to relate to you my unfortunate experience with SAS airlines and the Oslo Norway Airport. My flight consisted of flying from Vancouver Canada to Tallinn Estonia via Zurich Switzerland and Oslo Norway.

On July 1, 2014 I left Vancouver Canada on a flight with Air Canada to Zurich, Switzerland From Zurich, later that afternoon, now July 2nd, for a flight to Oslo Norway with Swiss Air, and then connecting with Estonian Air to Tallinn Estonia which was handled by SAS Airlines.

All went well until I reached Oslo. As the connection time was a short 40 minutes I was met at the Swiss Air aircraft door by an airline official who led me through several shortcuts in order for me to reach my gate in time for final boarding on the SAS flight to Tallinn. Once having reaching the gate, (41) we were told that the flight was delayed for 2 hours, and to have a seat in the waiting area.

After waiting for several minutes, browsing the surrounding shops, I again sat down and waited, listening to the announcements every half hour or so imploring all passenger not to leave their baggage unattended, in at least three different languages. As the time dragged on, past the two hour mark, I went back to the main arrival / departure board to see if any update was posted for flight OV 138. As nothing had changed, I proceeded back to gate 41 and waited some more.

After a few more minutes had past, I made my way back to the Departures and Arrivals board to look for updates. To my surprise the gate number had been changed to 36 or 38 so I went to the new gate and on my way, passing gate 41, I saw the next flight was posted as going to Rhodes in Greece. Once I reached the new gate for my flight I saw that the gate for flight OV 0138 was closed and there was no aircraft outside. I was astonished as to how could this happen. The flight had left without me. There were a couple of other passengers also looking somewhat bewildered however I do not know if they were in the same situation.

As it was getting fairly late by this time, around 23:50, and as most of the airline service people at the gates had left for the day. I managed to get to the check-in counter where there were still SAS people on duty. I explained my situation to one of the ladies behind the counter.
She informed me that she could do nothing to help me other than tell me that the next flight was at 19:45, the following evening and that I would have to purchase another ticket. Needless to say I was astonished at this suggestion as I believed the fault was entirely with SAS and the Oslo Airport authority. The lady also told me that the airport had instigated a silent airport policy, meaning that announcements would no longer be made, effective June 30, 2014. I replied that I had heard the “Baggage” announcement all evening so the silent airport policy obviously was not implemented. In response, she smiled and said “I know, but there is nothing we can do”.

I enquired if there was an earlier flight to Helsinki as I could then take the fast ferry to Tallinn. As it turned out, there was an 8:40 flight for which I had to purchase a ticket for the following morning at around 5 am when the counters opened. I enquired as to my already checked-in baggage. Would it have been unloaded or shipped to Tallinn. The lady said the bag would be definitely taken off the plane. She directed me to the SAS service counter downstairs. The ladies there were very busy with incoming flights but they managed to get a gentleman to check if my suitcase was somewhere in the building. We searched all the belts and corners where baggage was normally stored but nothing was found belonging to me. He said my suitcase was likely in Tallinn by now. There I was with no luggage, just an iPad with a discharged battery. The lady at the Customer Service counter kindly phoned my hotel in Tallinn so I could alert my son who was to meet me at the airport.
Due to the hour, I ended up sleeping at the airport on a not so comfortable chair until the gates opened in the morning where I could purchase a new ticket to Helsinki for 2019 NOK. In addiction I now had to take a ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn for an addition 30 euros.

Although the experience described was comical in some ways, unfortunate in others, I strongly feel that I deserve compensation for my expenses, namely the 2019 NOK and the 30 Euros for the Helsinki ferry. I place full responsibility on the Oslo Airport Authority and SAS. Surely this will be a repeated experience by numerous other passengers. I have travelled through numerous airports throughout the world but never one with a no announcements policy but with some announcements. This policy may have been someones pet project and great in theory but from a practical point of view it is ridiculous.

Although the last leg of the flight was with Estonian Air, I cannot fault them, other than perhaps making the wrong choice of airlines to partner up with. Please review the above and let me know your conclusions pending any further action on my part.