The Aviation Herald — A SAS Scandinavian Airlines Boeing 737-800, registration LN-RCX on flight SK-7382 from Chania to Harstad-Narvik (Norway) with 200 passengers was nearing Harstad-Narvik’s Evenes Airport when the crew was informed the tower at Evenes had already closed. The crew decided to divert to Bodo (Norway) a few km away for a safe landing.
In the meantime a tower controller was dispatched to Evenes Airport enabling the aircraft to depart Bodo and return to Evenes after about an hour on the ground. The aircraft landed safely at Evenes Airport with a delay of about 85 minutes.
Evenes Airport confirmed the tower was unoccupied due to a misunderstanding, the airport therefore did not know about the incoming aircraft. A controller is usually present at the tower about 15 minutes after the last scheduled flight arrival. The incident is being investigated.
