Even in SAS plus, the airline’s intra-Scandinavian flights are nothing to get excited about, even if what is done is very well done.
Second leg of my journey to Oslo, from where I’ll then fly to Vietnam, which will be the most substantial part of this series of articles.
While SAS Plus (premium economy) flights between Scandinavia and the rest of Europe can be described as relatively decent, intra-Scandinavian flights, which are treated as domestic flights, offer a much more down-to-earth level of service.
For the record, here’s a reminder of the air routing for this trip.
You’ll find at the bottom of the page a summary of the articles about this vacation in Vietnam.
Ground experience
I’ll be spending most of my correspondence in the SAS Gold lounge: great for relaxing, a little less so for dining.
I then head for my boarding gate. Oddly enough, one of the airport snack bars gives a foretaste of my final destination.
Good news when I arrive at the gate: the aircraft is already there, so there’s a good chance we’ll leave on time.
On the other hand, passengers don’t hurry…
Boarding
Indeed, we’ll be boarding on time and with strict respect for boarding priorities. So I’ll be among the first to enter the cabin.
The cabin
Nothing but the classic: this is the usual SAS cabin on its medium-haul Airbus aircraft.
The grey fabric seats are quite nice, but they’re really very thin. In SAS plus the middle seat is not neutralized.
As for my morning flight from Paris to Stockholm, I’m in row 1, but it seems to me that the legroom is even greater, even though it’s the same type of aircraft.
The flight and the service
I really like this SAS application, which gives real-time boarding progress.
Boarding will be fast and we’ll leave on time.
Greenery, lakes, we’re definitely in Sweden.
And here we are, above the clouds.
The service can begin. If on medium-haul flights between Scandinavia and Europe we have a basic but not bad lunchbox in SAS Plus, on “domestic” flights it’s much more frugal.
Don’t worry, we won’t be eating rats…
It’s ratatouille in a kind of bread crust.
Let’s just say it has the merit of existing. It has a little taste and isn’t as dry as it looks.
Economy passengers (SAS Go) will have had one drink (water, tea, coffee) and will have to use the buy on board menu if they want more.
It’s already time to get ready for the descent of this barely 40-minute flight.
The service
Not much to say given the length of the flight. Friendly and professional.
Arrival and disembarkation
For the first time, I’m discovering the Norwegian landscape, a country I’d never set foot in before. It could be Sweden or Denmark, it would be the same…
Oh, Ethiopian Airlines serves Oslo…
After a short taxi we park next to a Norwegian, the other local airline power.
On my way to the baggage carousel, I pass through the largest duty-free area dedicated exclusively to alcohol that I’ve ever seen.
The reason is simple: the price of alcohol is truly prohibitive in Norway, and people take advantage of the airport to stock up on duty-free when they return from countries other than Norway. Why is this? Norway is not part of the EU, and while there is an agreement on the free movement of people, this is not the case for goods, so you benefit from duty free even when arriving from an EU country.
The wait for luggage will be long, very long, almost Roissy-like.
Eventually I collect my suitcase and come face to face with a sign pointing me in the direction of the Radisson Blu opposite the terminal, where I’ll be staying for the night.
Bottom line
An uneventful but fairly basic flight.
The articles about this vacation in Vietnam
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