Actually, no.. BA uses the OSL lounge as well..

This is not entirely true. FRA T1 has the AA Admirals Club and LHR T3 has Servisair and Kuwait Oasis, all available with Priority Pass. On the other hand it is correct that MUC T2 doesn't have such a lounge - at least for the time being.

Giving out lounges as a service is more of an American concept than European, or at least Scandinavian Airlines. The point of SK lounges is to reward their most frequent flying customers or highest paying customers. They want to keep it that way; economy flyers purchase tickets to go from a to b, not for service. In this way, they are able to keep the private feel of the lounge. So, lounges are indeed a reward, and not a service. Tell your friend that he/she can certainly utilize any restaurant or comfort facilities that he/she finds at OSL. Just not lounges;).

It might also be worth noticing the difference in standard on the lounges. Both the SK lounge as well as the OSL lounge have a higher standard than what the likes of Priority Pass and Diners Club is willing to pay for...

And American lounges and standard... let's not even go there...

Well; the major problem at OSL is that even with OSL as a SK hub a number of their best passengers, even EBPs and EBGs paying full C-fares (full "business") , travelling regularly on SK have no lounge access either.

On the domestic side there are no lounges, and no way to access the lounges on the international side.

Now excuse me but that's exactly how airline business was understood and defined twenty years ago! ;) I still remember the first C-classes and "lounges" that would today turn out to be rather ridiculous. :) It seems quite evident for me that OSL isn't entirely updated of what has happened within this branch ever since - at least with regard to lounges.

While SK may organize its lounges in any way it wishes, I still cannot understand why a major SK hub doesn't offer any lounges for that increasing market of businessmen and other travellers who dont't flie in C (and are therefore rarely tier members in any FF program).

This nothing to do with OSL being an SK hub. SK don't own the terminal, they don't set the rent. SK is in the business of supplying a lounge to its C and FF customers (and as mentioned they fail to do this at OSL on the domestic side) when they fly with SK. PP/Diners etc are in the business of supporting the kind of customer you want supported, it has nothing at all to do with this being an SK hub.

OSL needs to expand, simple as that. It is not SK's fault, nor that fact that this is an SK hub that the expansion is not happening quickly enough for rent to be low enough for a PP/Diners lounge to be opened.

A bit off the topic, but is it really true? Does not UA RCC membership gives access to SAS business lounges worldwide when flying SAS?

More on topic is what I do not understand is why OSL does not offer any lounges at all for domestic travel. Would be natural to have at least a pay-per-use lounge, is not it? Many times in the past I envied BA Golds when flying domestic from OSL after the old BU lounge was closed. A joke is that I am now BA Gold but they no longer have the lounge at OSL... On the other hand, most probably I will not be flying in Norway domestically in the nearest future.

You haven't got my point. SK being the major airline in OSL, it has had and obviously still has a say about how the terminal must look like. That's the rule all over the world. OSL airport authorities would be simply stupid if they ignored the wishes of SK regarding the terminal.

Now I think that it is within the interests of SK to have an attractive and welcoming terminal with a maximum quantity and quality of all kinds of services. Pls read my message where I stated that HEL has wholly 8 lounges and the 9th under construction (out of these 3 are available upon PP or credit card), whereas OSL has only 3 (none available upon PP or credit card). It's really strange that OSL doesn't have any domestic lounge either.

Do you really think that OSL would be up to present-day standards? I don't. And I do think that SK would have a great interest in improving the services in OSL. For the time being, OSL having only limited lounge services and few expensive restaurants and cafes, for many it is not an attractive option as a gateway airport. Who is likely to be the one who will lose money? I guess mostly SK.

I don't think OSL can be compared to ARN/CPH/HEL where many passengers are connecting from long-haul flights to European flights. I think (please correct me if I am wrong) most of the passengers in OSL are connecting from domestic to European flights (and possibly to long-haul hubs in Europe).

ARN/CPH/HEL do have international traffic and therefore they also need to take care of the passengers without status and not flying with the local airline but having a PriorityPass or credit card to access the lounge.

In HEL Finnair has only been taking care of their own lounges, other airlines have also needed some lounges and private lounges have seen this as a good business opportunity. At same time, Finnair has been seeing the similar business opportunity by opening their lounge for PriorityPass customers. SAS doesn't want that kind business as it would take some space from their own customers and hasn't opened their lounges for PriorityPass.

SAS should just make OSL as a long-haul hub and then maybe OSL airport authorities would develop the airport further much faster than today. :D

Well, OSL and the other Norwegian airports are about the only major airports in Europe with no Priority Pass lounges or lounges offered upon an entrance fee. And now, that is strange. :rolleyes:

Just proofs that there isn't enough business for that kind of lounge. You can of course propose to PriorityPass that they would add a lounge in OSL but maybe they don't see any reason to negotiate or if the lounges are asking too much for the service then the business case is too weak for them to proceed. I would guess that PriorityPass would also study how many of their customers are going through OSL and maybe they haven't received enough requests yet to proceed.

Does anyone buy a single entry to lounge? I think that most of the people utilizing the lounge have either yearly access (e.g., UA RCC/PriorityPass/credit cards), a status with an airline or travel with Business/First class.

I agree with others that OSL airport authorities haven't just yet seen any reason to have this kind of benefit at the airport. Maybe they are thinking that most of the passengers are just coming from their OSL homes and connecting quickly to their flights and do not spend much time at the airport.

Excuse me, but even such small airports like TLL, RIX and VNO have PP lounges. The number of PAX at these and similar regional European airports is hardly one third of that at OSL. @:-)

So it just proofs that these small airports get more passengers who request this service and/or these small airports are willing to build this kind of benefits as they see it is beneficial for their operations. OSL just doesn't see the benefit/doesn't want to build it or doesn't see such amount of passengers who would be requesting this.

And if you think that lack of PP lounge in OSL is a huge problem then maybe you should contact PP and propose them to investigate the opportunity to have a contract lounge in OSL.

I believe that in this kind of business world, almost anything will come when there is enough demand for it.

And the rent is probably much lower than at OSL. As a EBG, I assume you have been to OSL? Have you ever seen the Monolitten and Sinnataggen bar, placed opposite of the lounges, at the domestic side? I believe the rent for this establishment, a year ago, was about 50 000 USD PLUS 10% of the sales a month. Clearly, PriorityPass or Diners, are not willing to pay such rent.

The independent airport lounge, known as the OSL lounge, used by CO, AF, KL, AY, SN, and BA charges about 400 NOK PER PASSENGER WHO VISIT. If Diners or PriorityPass would pay the same rate as the airlines currently does - there wouldn't be a problem. You probably realize that 400 NOK(or more in the afternoon - when the alcohol is served) per visit is not going to pay off for PriorityPass or Diners. And they are looking at, and will probably build another lounge with lower costs - if PP and Diners would like to pay what it costs to use a lounge in Norway.

I don't get why this is SAS' problem. They are not represented in the board of directors, and are not asked AT ALL about independent lounges. And why should they be consulted about independent lounges? OSL is fully owned by the Norwegian government, thru Avinor AS.

So the problem is NOT that their isn't a lounge - I am sure the OSL lounge would be happy to welcome Diners or PP customers. The problem is that Diners and PP won't pay the cost.