Transfer in Oslo
I just stepped off the SWISS flight from Zürich. In 90 minutes I have a connection to Haugesund. If you’re connecting from an international flight that’s not on SAS to any domestic service, you can’t go straight to departures. Instead, you’ll have to exit through customs, then head one floor up and go through security again. Hm’kay…?
Alas, once I’m landside again, it’s difficult to find the escalators to take me one floor up to departures, because they’re all hidden away.
But I must admit, at least the terminal is very nice and spacious, despite the inconvenience.
Luckily, I’m travelling on an SAS Plus fare, which means I’m entitled to use the fast track for security. Not that it helps much, because the security staff have obviously decided my luggage is a security issue and take for ever to check it. It’s just a rucksack, for heaven’s sake. Maybe it’s something to do with my spectacular beard…
The SAS Business Class Lounge
There’s an SAS lounge in both the international and domestic sectors of the terminal, one floor up from the public area.
I know, I know – it’s such a cliché… but the lounge really does look like something from an IKEA showroom.
There is also a good selection of salads, breads, cheese, cold cuts and soups.
I just have enough time for a bowl of salad while I upload the previous post before my flight starts boarding from gate C8.
Boarding
It’s obviously cold outside, because they’ve even covered up the aircraft’s engines.
The Cabin
On this flight, I’m seated on 3F and as my luck will have it, the middle seat between me and the guy on the aisle stays vacant.
The seat pitch is good, but compared to the very modern A220, the cabin on this aircraft look ancient!
There is a USB port in the back of every seat, by the way.
The two cabin crew working the forward cabin are… ehm… difficult? The purser is an elderly gentleman who looks as though he should have retired long ago. And he obviously think he’s quite the joker. Only, he’s not funny and his safety on board demonstration is so sloppy that he might as well not have done it at all.
In Norway it seems to be standard practice that aircraft are only pushed back from the gate, but without turning them to point in the direction of the taxiway. I wonder if perhaps it has something to do with the ice.
In any case, before we head for the runway, we make a stop of about twenty minutes on the de-icing pad for them to defrost our plane. It’s obviously such a common occurrence up this end that the pilots don’t even bother to announce what’s going on.
But then once that’s done, we head for the runway and take-off without any further delays.
The Meal
On domestic services, SAS Plus passengers get to select any item they like from the buy on board menu for free, whereas in regular Economy Class, food and drinks are only available for purchase. Tea and coffe however, are complimentary in all classes.
I ask for some apple juice and a packet of crisps.
It’s obviously not haute cuisine, but hey, the flight is only 35 minutes.
Arrival
Despite the delay for de-icing, we still land on time. Up here it’s 15 degrees warmer than Oslo, with the temperature hovering around 9 degrees.
Haugesund airport is very small. Arrivals is more or less one not so big room with enough space to deliver the luggage. But at least that also means there are no airbridges!
I step outside, and the airport bus to Haugesund is already there. The bus runs infrequently, but the schedule coincides with SAS’s arrivals and departures. The journey into town takes about 25 minutes.
knightofmalta 