SAS has canceled its summer flights between Nuuk and Copenhagen citing rising fuel prices. Among those affected is the Maqe Poulsen family, who had to change travel dates and pay extra to make the holiday fit together.
Saturday morning the summer holiday joy was suddenly replaced by frustration for the Maqe Poulsen family.
While the family was looking forward to the summer holiday to Denmark and Mallorca, an email arrived from SAS with the message that their journey between Nuuk and Copenhagen – both the outward and return journey – had been cancelled.
As the family had bought some of the tickets separately, they were initially only informed that one booking had been cancelled. Therefore, they quickly began to investigate the status of the other tickets.
– When we checked them, it turned out that the rest had also been cancelled, says Birthe Poulsen.
She was to travel with her husband, their two children and her mother – a total of five people. Because the departure was in the middle of the high season, the family chose to act quickly in order not to risk even more expensive tickets.
– Due to the uncertainty, I rushed to buy tickets from Air Greenland. We are a lot of people, so I acted quickly before it became too expensive, says Birthe Poulsen.
Have to pay extra
The family managed to find new tickets at an affordable price. But when they had to find cheaper return tickets from Copenhagen to Nuuk, they had to change the travel dates.
This means that the family will now have to stay two extra days and pay for additional hotel nights.
– We may have to pay DKK 4,000 to 5,000 extra, says Birthe Poulsen.
When SAS announced the cancellation, the family had two options: either get the money back or be rebooked for another flight.
The Poulsen family chose to have the tickets refunded. A friend, who was also supposed to travel with him, instead chose to be rebooked. The journey was moved to Air Greenland, and SAS covered the price difference on the tickets. In return, the travel dates were changed.
– She was told that there was space on 5 August, but when she received the ticket, she discovered that she didn’t have to travel until the 8th, says Birthe Poulsen.
It remains unknown whether SAS will return with flights to Greenland next year. But the Poulsen family has already made their decision.
– No, never again, says Birthe Poulsen.
