This short flight on SAS between Oslo and Copenhagen in SAS Plus (Premium Eco) confirms that there’s not much to expect from the airline in the medium-haul segment, especially on intra-Scandinavian flights. But when you know that, the airline doesn’t disappoint either.
This time it’s really the home stretch with this flight to Copenhagen from where I’ll be heading back to Paris, my final destination. I chose to fly SAS for reasons of convenience…and miles earning! SAS doesn’t offer a real business class on medium-haul routes, just a premium eco (and still….), SAS Plus, which offers a light but decent service on flights to countries outside Scandinavia. but offers only the bare minimum on “domestic” flights,that is, within Scandinavia.
Nothing fancy, but once you know what you’re in for, you know what to expect.
For the record here is the air routing of this trip.
You’ll find a summary of the articles about this vacation in Vietnam at the bottom of the page.
Check-in and ground experience
I checked-in online the day before without any problems.
I leave my hotel, the Radisson Blu Plaza, in the early morning to head for the airport. If this very decent hotel isn’t fantastic, it has at least one thing going for it: it’s right next door to the central station, from where I’ll take the Flytoget high-speed train linking the city center to the airport at 210 km/h, in 20 minutes with a train every 10 minutes.
A few meters after leaving the hotel, a footbridge leads to the station.
At this early hour on a Sunday morning, the station is empty.
Very practical for tourists and those unfamiliar with the area, ground markings indicate how to reach the shuttle departure point.
There are kiosks where you can buy your ticket, but I’d already bought mine online before.
All the seats have been taken by passengers who boarded at previous stations, and there’s very little storage space for suitcases. So everyone tries to find a place as best they can.
Less comfortable than the outward journey, but the trip will be short. And nothing could be worse than the RER B between Roissy and Paris.
20 minutes later we are at the airport and I leave the train.
Two sets of escalators later, I’m in the terminal on the departures level.
It’s not too crowded at SAS and it only takes a couple of minutes to check-in my suitcase.
I make my way to the security checkpoints…which are quite busy.
On the other hand, there’s hardly anyone in the priority queue.
The checks are quickly completed and I head for the SAS Gold lounge in the terminal’s international zone, which I introduced to you on the outward journey. International, as Norway is not part of the Schengen area.
It’s quickly time to reach my boarding gate. Very pleasant terminal by the way.
Boarding
The staff are busy behind the counter in anticipation of imminent boarding.
It starts on time, with strict respect for priorities, and I’m the second to enter the jetway.
The cabin
The cabin is the traditional SAS Airbus medium-haul cabin.
I like the effect of these gray hues.
I like the seat’s thinness a lot less, as well as the fact that SAS doesn’t neutralize the middle seat in SAS Plus.
The legroom is very good.
The buy on board menu is laid out in the pouch in front of me.
So much for the cabin. Nothing fancy, but very decent for a flight of barely one hour.
The flight
The flight is almost full, which means that I will sadly have a seatmate.
We leave Oslo on time, under a superb sun that had shunned me for the two days I’d spent visiting the city.
The service starts very quickly. Did I mention a minimalist service on intra-Scandinavian flights? Well, here’s the result.
That’s it, move along, nothing to see here. A glass of sparkling water and that’s it.
Not much else to say, our descent begins quickly.
Arrival and connection
An uneventful end of the flight, we land and after a short taxi we park at the gate.
The only notable thing I see almost systematically at SAS is that passengers in the rear half of the aircraft disembark via a staircase at the back of the aircraft, on the tarmac. A practice thought to be reserved for low-cost airlines, but which I sometimes see on other “normal” airlines, and which has the added advantage of allowing faster boarding and deplaning.
A practice I appreciate….especially when I’m at the front.
I then head for the SAS lounge. A funny thing I’d never noticed before: traffic lights to regulate electric vehicle traffic in the terminal due to the work in progress.
Service and crew
Not much to say considering how little they have to do. Smiling and friendly, that’s the essential.
Bottom line
As I often say, when you don’t expect anything, you’re never disappointed. The promise is weak, but it’s kept.
The articles about this vacation in Vietnam
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