Christmas shut-down at Oslo Airport

At 15:00 on Christmas Eve, Oslo Airport will be closing to commercial traffic. In connection with the large airport expansion project, comprehensive testing is set to be carried out. Emergency and ambulance traffic plus mail flights will run as normal.

“We are closing due to comprehensive testing of the systems for passenger and traffic control. It is not possible for us to test these systems with passenger traffic in the terminal”, says project manager Hans Petter Stensjøen in Avinor.

Avinor wants to test all critical systems in connection with the large expansion that has been in progress since 2011.

Lowest number of passengers

“The time of year with the lowest number of passengers at Oslo Airport is after 15:00 hours on Christmas Eve. We have therefore chosen this period for carrying out the test”, explains Stensjøen.

The shut-down means that all commercial traffic ceases as of 15:00 hours and will not resume until 11:00 on Christmas Day. Passengers on flights scheduled before 15:00 on Christmas Eve that are delayed until after 15:00 may arrive as normal.

Flights that are delayed on Christmas Eve will go as normal, albeit with very limited services at the airport.

Incoming flights to Oslo Airport that are delayed and arrive after 15:00 will be redirected to other airports in the area.

We have cooperated well with all airlines in connection with this test. All affected parties have been informed about the shut-down, so the already limited amount of traffic will be even lower this year.

“Around 70,000 passengers travel via Oslo Airport on a normal day. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year, the number of passengers per day will be around 12,000. No airlines operate with flights in the shut-down period, so it will affect relatively few passengers”, says Stensjøen.

Celebrating Christmas with the employees
Some 120 employees from various airlines will participate in the test. Many of them will therefore celebrate Christmas at the airport with their colleagues.

“It will be a different kind of Christmas for them, but we are privileged to have dedicated employees who have agreed to help us doing this. We would not be able to carry this out without them, so we really appreciate their commitment. We will make sure they are put in a festive spirit with good food for all those involved, and we hope this will be a small compensation”, says Stensjøen.

As of 11:00 on Christmas Day, Oslo Airport will open for traffic as normal. Check in on Christmas Day opens at 9 AM.