Weekend without the sun: Norwegian and SAS to Arctic Norway

[SQueeze]

This trip report covers a short weekend trip to the land with no sun - Tromso, 200 miles above the Arctic circle on New Year's Day.

Part 1 (LGW-TOS)

Flight: D82470
Reg: LN-FJB
Type: 737-800
Seat: 1A
Class: Economy
Load: 100%


The trip started on the afternoon of 1 January 2016 in the nondescript check in hall of London Gatwick South Terminal where D8 flights depart from.



For Norwegian flights, self check-ins are encouraged. Not only boarding passes are issued from here, even baggage tags. These are becoming widespread in Europe and Australia but not in Asia.



After a quick check in and baggage was sent off to the belt, we proceeded to security.



Same case, everything is automated. Boarding passes are scanned at these turnstiles.



Gatwick seems quite a pleasant enough space and on New Year's Day, it didn't seem too crowded and there was no feeling of stressful congestion like in LHR. The overall feel is also more like a shopping centre rather than an airport.



I didn't expect the Priority Pass lounge of Gatwick to be anything to write home about but to my pleasant surprise it's actually a really good lounge.



If has a nice spread of cold starters with good quality produce



And a bar with to-order-menu serving fresh food such as these bean stews and beef stews.





Upstairs is a nice quiet seating lounge. Overall I am really impressed by this lounge. We should have come here earlier.



It's a minihub for Norwegian. But also surprising there were 3 TK flights at the same time.



D8 also flies long haul from LGW to the United States using 787s.

[SQueeze]

Rushing to the gate shortly afterwards when we saw the screen showing "Gate Closed" half an hour prior to flight. LGW cheats. At least Changi shows "closing". "Closed" really freaks people out.



It wasn't closed yet, and we boarded to our red-nosed 737.



Curiously, there were people embarking from the rear using stairs. In wonder if these were transit passengers.



I purchased a package with seat selection + luggage and row 1 didn't come at a premium so there we were seated.



Shortly after, it was push back. Norwegian has distinct liveries of faces of Scandinavian distinguished personalities on its tails but many of the planes at LGW that day did not, including ours. May be too new as I soon found out.



The tail fin heroes. I think this is either you love it or you hate it. I don't really like the aesthetics. It's fine to name the planes after these heroes but showing a face over such a large surface is just bizarre to me.



And then it was take off into gloomy skies.



Investigating the inflight magazine.



And the menu.



Route map. Mainly in Europe but they had recently expanded into the USA, and the Carribean. Asia is served to Bangkok only.



It's a Low cost carrier so there was nothing much to write as it's pretty much standard seats and I didn't take any meals as this was an afternoon 230pm flight. The flight is obviously doing well.



I was initially looking forward to Internet connectivity onboard which is complimentary but to my dismay, it was explained that because the aircraft was new, the wifi was not enabled.

So I spent the next 3.5 hours journey into the dark side staring into the wall.

[SQueeze]

But looking out of the window, things get interesting and beautiful ....

For an afternoon 3 pm flight heading north, we gradually left daylight into a foreboding darkness.

The light quality was ... Stunning.



We landed in Tromso in deep darkness. The sun had not been seen in this region for weeks !

Disembarking was by stairs but it was not that cold. 3 degrees .... It was one of the unusually warm days of the season.



And then everyone has to walk across to an almost-rustic custom building where passport control is.



Baggage claim area is smallish. The bags didnt come fast for a small airport, and a few times the belt got stuck because of baggage overflow.



From airport to hotel was a short 15 minute ride away by airport bus.



We stayed in a cool and hip Budget hotel by the Scandic group called Comfort XPress.



One interesting feature is self check-in kiosks so no queuing at the counter. Check in was also done online and I was given a Q-code. The keys we also scan and program ourselves.



There is a counter at the end of the lobby but the guys there multitask because they also serve the bar.



There is no restaurant. There is a supermarket-style chilled shelves where you can take and then pay at the counter. Coffee and tea machine is also available and self-service in similar manner.



The room is smallish but pleasantly furnished. It's Budget cool. Mind you, no Housekeeping. It comes at a charge. They go the way Budget airlines go : "charge for everything"



But overall I was happy for the price I paid. About SGD100 per night which is very reasonable by Norwegian standards.

[SQueeze]

Tromso during the polar night is a surreal place. It is not completely dark. It is a continuous dawn starting from 10am which merges into dusk and ends at 3pm.

As a hot-weather hater, and a sun-hater, this is probably my most wonderful noontime ever. Yes, this was taken at noon facing south.





It's pretty much a seafaring town so it has a gorgeous waterfront with the mountains and the sea.



Some of the streets are quite quaint and dream-like.









And by 1pm, the day was ending, basking the city in a beautiful and gorgeous blue glow





Night time, it was just dark. That night it was also very clear and chances of finding northern lights would be high. But we had seen it before in Iceland in 2011, and in Norway, the aurora chase tours are expensive, costing 200 euros and more. So we would give it a miss. I had seen once in Iceland (photo below) and it was not like that to the naked eye. All the gorgeous pics were due to Long exposure on my camera where I opened shutter up to 2 minutes.



At the end of the weekend, it was time to leave Tromso back to meet the sun.

[SQueeze]

Part 2 (TOS-OSL)

Flight: SK 4417
Reg: LN-TUJ
Aircraft: 737-700
Seat:
Class: Economy
Load: 100%

The return journey started with a gorgeous drive in the suburbs of Tromso towards its rather spectacularly-sited airport by the water.



Now that I have clearer sight of it. The terminal building looks modern and pretty small.



View from the kerb is gorgeous at 1pm



It was quite busy inside the small building



Typical of Europe, most check-in is self service including baggage tagging.



And then post-security is the common transit area which is simply laid out in a linear fashion. Waiting areas are quite small. Most flights are narrow bodies in any case.



I was entitled to use the SAS Cafe lounge which is a brand new concept being implemented across a few airports in the region. This is a stripped-down version of a full lounge, located near boarding gates. The idea could be seen as cost cutting but could also be seen as a quick, functional, and practical. I don't mind it certainly as it is very tastefully conceptualised as can be seen in the following few pictures.



I am not sure if this is typical or not, but the counter was not manned most of the time I was there. So I self-checked in myself into the lounge by scanning my BP.



Inside is really pleasant





Plenty of charging stations and the pleasant greenery provides privacy from the party across the table. Brilliant.



Window row was popular.

[SQueeze]

Food and drink offerings are very meagre. Just cookies, fruits, and rolls. And coffee, tea, and juices of course. Passengers are expected to wait only a short while here.



Boarding was through aerobridge this time.



And here's the bird which would be flying us to Oslo.



Pretty standard seats inside, and they were quite worn. But still well-cared.



We got emergency exit row.



We pushed back at 2pm. Yes, this was at 2pm. A dusky 2pm facing south.



And as the plane turned, and my window faced north, it was night time this side of the plane.



After a Long taxi, we were then racing down toward the faint light of day. Tromso has no taxi way it seems, planes go down to the end of the runway and then make a U-turn.



Flying directly over Tromso



Flight was full.



No business class on SAS domestic and European flights. The first few rows are sold as SAS Plus which is exactly the same like economy but with the perks of meals, luggage etc. All 6 seats are sold. No middle seat blocking even.



Food is not complimentary except on SAS Plus. And quite an extensive menu they offer.

[SQueeze]

Network map of an unusual polar perspective.



There is no service other than ... Glass of water for me.



An hour later, faint light started to appear and what beauty it was.



It evolved into gorgeous shades of pink and blue





Towards the end of the flight at 4pm, a conventional sunset appears. The 2nd I witnessed on the same day.



It was a surreal flight where within a span of 2 hours, I had seen 2 sunsets, and a night time.



We landed into snowy Oslo in deep blue twilight at 4pm. And here is the end of the trip report. Thank you for reading.

[9V-JKL]

Thanks for sharing. Its nice to see these rarer types of TR

[yflyer]

Wow...very nice trip and TR, SQueeze!

I have never seen the Northern Lights...a relative who just viewed it from Canada said that it was quite faint, and looked better on camera (After a long exposure) than in real life? What is your impression?

[SQueeze]

Thanks 9V-JKL and Yflyer

Wow...very nice trip and TR, SQueeze!

I have never seen the Northern Lights...a relative who just viewed it from Canada said that it was quite faint, and looked better on camera (After a long exposure) than in real life? What is your impression?

For northern lights, it's really not like the pictures. Mine, I opened the shutter for a 2-min exposure.

It's still an interesting sight though. Because it's silent, dark, and you see these throbbing glows of light in the sky. They move which makes it more interesting than the pictures, but they are not as colourful.

If you happen to be on a chase, just be aware. It's usually very cold (-10 or so at least) as you need cloudless skies to see one, and cloudless means no heat retention.

[CarbonMan]

It's nice to have such a long dusk/dawn for landscape photography! But as you said the only problem is the -10degC cold. Anyone here knows of a pair of great gloves that keeps your fingers warm yet allow you to easily meddle the controls?

Yes, I do agree that the northern lights are overrated. Thanks for a great TR, SQueeze!

[Mlee888]

Nice, I'm guessing in summer the number of hours of sunlight there are the same as what the darkness is in winter.

[726]

Nice report. I was in stockholm in the shortest day of year 2014 (22 dec 2014). Sunrise was around 10am/11am and sunset was 2/3pm, though not as dark as tromso as it still has normal sunlight.

I am currently holding a ticket to OSL for december this year by thai. Want to go to trondheim, but let's see if i have time.

[mr_botak]

Brrrrrrr... Thanks for sharing. As a sunshine and warm weather lover not one for me.

Interesting that self service has taken over. Must admit I much prefer an actual person to interact with.