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How the check-in process at Oslo Gardermoen Airport will change this autumn

Several airlines flying out of Oslo airport will use new luggage drop technology and see their check-in area move this autumn. Here’s what travellers need to know.

Published: 19 September 2024 10:46 CEST
Pictured is the new bag drop at Oslo Airport.
The bag drop at Oslo airport will change this autumn. Pictured is the new bag drop at Oslo Airport. Photo provided by Avinor.

A new luggage drop has opened at Oslo Airport Gardermoen, and several airlines will move their check-in areas to make use of the new technology, state-owned airport operator Avinor has said in a press release.

“Now we are ready to open up to a larger number of flights every day, and from this week, we are entering a major ramp-up phase,” Hans Petter Stensjøen, an area manager at Oslo Gardermoen, said in a press release.

“Half of the departure hall at Oslo Airport has been blocked off with either test stations or construction walls for several years, and there are many people who have turned to go straight to check-in areas 1-4 in the west, and 10 all the way in the east. Now that a significant number of flights are being moved to the new facility, travellers will have to get used to checking the information boards to find their check-in area,” he added.

Over the next few weeks, SAS would begin moving its travellers over to the new 5-7 check-in area.

The new luggage system is one of the world’s most modern, Avinor has said. The traditional baggage belt has been dropped, and passengers will place their luggage in a box before scanning the luggage tag.

Throughout the autumn, several other airlines will also be moved to the new check-in area.

“There have, of course, been some teething problems, and it is precisely to weed out such errors that we are carrying out a gradual escalation in the use of the facility. The feedback from the travellers has also been very good, and the vast majority find this simple and user-friendly,” Stensjøen said.  

READ ALSO: What is the best way to get to Oslo from the airport?

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POLITICS

Norway’s government to merge state-owned train firms Vy and Flytoget

Norway’s two state-owned train companies, Vy and Flytoget, will be merged and travellers will eventually be able to use the same ticket for services offered by both rail firms, the government announced Wednesday.

Published: 18 September 2024 14:44 CEST
Norway's government to merge state-owned train firms Vy and Flytoget

The companies may be merged from as early as the beginning of next year, Nygård told public broadcaster NRK, and the process could take up to three years.

As part of the merger, travellers will be able to use the same ticket on both services.

“Our aim is to give everyone who travels by train in Eastern Norway a better offer, at the same time that the state gets more for every kroner we spend on railways,” he told NRK.

“Making Flytoget a subsidiary of Vy will contribute to this. Vy will bring the very best from Flytoget. Now we are getting a powerful state passenger train company of which I have great expectations,” he added.

Under current rules, travellers with Vy cannot use their tickets on Flytoget services and vice versa, even though both companies stop at several of the same stops and use the same lines.

Tickets for Vy’s services from Oslo to the airport are currently around 100 kroner cheaper than Flytoget’s and can be bought via the Ruter transport app, but these services also take around 10 minutes longer to get to the airport from the city centre.

READ ALSO: What is the best way to get to Oslo from the airport?

The government has seen merging the two companies as a solution to increase capacity for trains in and out of Oslo without building new infrastructure.

Union officials working in Flytoget have previously criticised the prospect of a merger.

Vegard Einan, regional director of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) in Viken County, told the newspaper VG that the merger could make services worse overall.

“If Flytoget is swallowed up by Vy, I fear that the passengers and business will be the ones who lose. Oslo and Eastern Norway as a travel destination will also come out of it unluckily if air passengers experience being delayed…, and not making it to their flights,” he said.

Opposition parties, such as the Conservative Party and the Progress Party, have also criticised the merger.

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