Labor strike in Norway sees 12 airports closed

26 May, 2008: A strike by employees of Avinor, the civil aviation authority of Norway, spread to more areas on May 20, 2008. This has resulted in the shutdown of 6 more airports in the country, bringing the total number of airports closed on account of the strike to 12.

The 12 airports had to be closed owing to shortage of employees to respond to possible emergencies or fires.

Additional airports that have been closed down include Stavanger Sola and those serving Sandnessjøen, Sogndal, Alta in northern Norway, Svolvær and Leknes.

Airports already closed included those serving Bergen Harstad/Narvik, Molde, Mo i Rana, Mosjøen, and Kristiansund.

Western Norway has been hit the hardest by the strike of just over 400 employees of Avinor.

The Haugesund airport is the only airport that is open for scheduled traffic.

An estimated 31,000 passengers have been adversely affected by the strike by the civil aviation employees. Efforts at mediation so far have been in vain.

SAS AB, the biggest airline in Scandinavia, estimates that it will have direct losses of 15 million Swedish kronor ($2.5 million) for every day of the strike, media reports said.

Apart from upsetting the travel plans of tens of thousands of people, the wage dispute between Avinor and labour unions is now threatening operations at Norway’s offshore installations.

The Gardermoen airport at Oslo, Norway’s main airport used daily by about 60,000 passengers, remained open but flights were cancelled on May 20, the media quoted airport officials as saying.

In all, 48 flights were cancelled at Gardermoen airport on May 18 and 19, hitting around 5,000 passengers.

The Sola airport, which was closed on May 20, serves Norway’s west-coast city of Stavanger, which is usually used by about 11,000 passengers a day.

Also closed owing to the strike are airports at Bergen and Kristiansund, the two biggest bases for helicopter transport to and from oil platforms run by StatoilHydro, Norway’s largest oil company.

Energy company Statoil Hydro had to cancel 36 flights.

Avinor, the civil aviation authority, and employees’ unions have not held any meetings since mediation efforts failed on May 16. A spokesman for Avinor was quoted by the website aftenposten.no as saying: “We cannot say anything about when such contact will be re-established. There are no meetings scheduled between the company and the unions.”

However, a spokesman for the trade union confederation LO Stat, which organises the government-hired employees, said that “Avinor has the means to end the strike.”

Meanwhile, Avinor has advised passengers to consult websites operated by the respective airlines over cancellations and, if possible, look into alternative means of travel.