Snow expected to cause delays at Oslo Airport

Oslo Airport is expecting the first snowfall of the season within the near future. The construction activity, along with reconfiguration of taxiways and snow clearing models, may cause some delays in connection with the expected snowfall.

While Oslo Airport is currently well underway in one of Norway’s biggest construction projects, normal airport operations have continued almost without interruption. Construction of the North Pier has also yielded more space on the ground level.

“In connection with construction of the North Pier, we have also built new taxiways and implemented a brand new snow clearing model which will be used up to and after 2017. The construction project has increased the areas that will require snow clearing by about 700,000 m2,” says media manager and press spokesman Joachim Westher Andersen at OSL.

Heavy snowfall combined with the new snow clearing model and reconfiguration of taxiways can present some challenges:

“We have to implement more space between the aircraft, both on approach and departure, to ensure safety. Also, there must be fewer aircraft moving on the ground at the same time. We will have to take this into account until the new snow clearing models are well established and the weather permits normal traffic flow,” Andersen explains.

Aviation safety considerations could lead to some delays.

“The need to allow more space between aircraft will result in some delays. We understand that passengers may find this inconvenient, but the restrictions will be introduced to ensure safety,” says Andersen.

Oslo Airport will do everything it can to ensure that traffic flows normally.

“We can assure all our passengers that we will do everything in our power to ensure the best possible traffic flow, and we are well prepared for the season’s first snowfall. Our snow clearing crews are quite capable and our air traffic controllers will do their very best to make sure that normal operations are resumed as quickly as possible. However, it’s difficult to gauge the operative effect of the new snow clearing models until we have actually tried them out,” explains Andersen.

“We ask for our passengers’ understanding, as well as a little extra patience, in connection with the first snowfall of the year,” Andersen concludes.

Passengers who experience delays should contact their respective airlines for more information.