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'It was very chaotic': SAS cancels dozens of flights due to staff illness

Emma Löfgren
Emma Löfgren - [email protected]
'It was very chaotic': SAS cancels dozens of flights due to staff illness
File photo of SAS aircraft at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT

A reader spoke to The Local after their Christmas flight was rescheduled twice, as Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) was forced to cancel around 40 departures due to staff sick leave.

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SAS cancelled nine flights from Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport on Wednesday, after grounding more than 30 flights on Tuesday, reports the TT newswire.

“We have staff who are ill, have symptoms or someone who is ill in their household, and the recommendation is then that they should stay at home,” SAS spokesperson Freja Annamatz told TT.

Covid is currently on the increase in Sweden, as well as seasonal viruses such as the flu.

According to TT, passengers whose flights were cancelled were rebooked onto other flights, but SAS warned that they might have to cancel more flights over the Christmas holidays.

“We can’t rule that out,” said Annamatz.

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French reader Julien told The Local he made it to France in the end after his flight from Stockholm was cancelled twice.

It was first rescheduled from December 23rd to December 21st, and then they arrived at the airport on Tuesday only to find it had been cancelled a second time. He and his family were rebooked on another flight via Amsterdam that evening.

“It was very chaotic and one of our two suitcases got lost on the way, we’re still waiting for news of it,” he said.

“Arlanda Airport was packed with people, with extremely long queues. To their credit all the staffers we met there were calm and helpful. But that long of a trip with a small child was not fun. We start our holiday break exhausted and without half our things.”

Have your Christmas plans been disrupted by cancellations? Email our editorial team at [email protected] to share your story.

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