Norwegian to buy Widerøe

Norwegian to buy Widerøe

Norwegian has entered into an agreement with WF Holding AS to acquire Widerøe, the major regional carrier in Norway. The agreement will provide customers with a broader route network and more choices. It will also contribute to securing local jobs in Norway. Widerøe will continue to exist as a separate company with its own brand, organisation and headquarters in Bodø.

Linking Widerøe’s wide-spanning regional route network with Norwegian’s attractive domestic and international routes, secures a customer offering with better connectivity and seamless end-to-end experience. Widerøe covers more than 40 small and medium-sized airports across Norway, in addition to a few larger airports in Europe, while Norwegian offers more than 300 routes to 114 destinations in the Nordics and in Europe.

Companies that complement each other

“This is a milestone in Norwegian aviation history. Our two airlines have existed side by side for many years and no one knows the aviation market in Norway better. With this transaction, we will now create a streamlined and more comprehensive offer for all customers, and we look forward to offering seamless travel across our entire route networks,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

The two airlines have a very limited overlap on routes and complement each other well. Out of a total of 107 routes in Norway, out of which 85 are operated by Widerøe and 22 are operated by Norwegian, only five overlap and can all be operated with standard jet aircraft.

Norwegian aviation history

Widerøe is Norway’s oldest aviation group. The airline is headquartered in Bodø and has administrative offices in Oslo. Widerøe has a fleet of close to 50 aircraft and holds a market share of approximately 20 percent in the Norwegian domestic market, measured by the number of passengers.

Norwegian and Strawberry to establish shared “currency” for loyalty programmes

Norwegian and Strawberry are to establish a joint company that will provide a wider selection of services to the members of the companies’ respective loyalty programmes. The company will create a common loyalty currency and a platform where members can earn and use loyalty points across different programmes. The entity will be jointly owned by Norwegian and Strawberry, each retaining an equal ownership stake.

The digital loyalty currency will replace the loyalty point systems which are used by various loyalty programmes today. In this way, members who earn points at hotel stays can choose to use them to pay for airfares, or vice versa.

“We are developing our already popular loyalty programme, Norwegian Reward, by thinking outside the box and cooperating with new partners. I am very pleased to have found Strawberry as a partner and that by joining forces, we are developing a new platform which will give even more customers the opportunity to choose from a broader selection of services. We would also like to invite more partners to join this collaboration as we move forward,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

1.9 million people travelled with Norwegian in May

Budget airline Norwegian carried a little over 1.9 million passengers during the month of May this year the firm announced this week. The Oslo-based airline also reported a load factor was 84% and on routes to popular holiday destinations, the load factor was even higher at 90%.   

“May was another solid month for Norwegian with passenger traffic. Many of our customers took advantage of the long weekends and holidays in May to travel to popular beach and city destinations across Europe. Our load factor on these flights was 90 percent,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Norwegian had 1,900,211 passengers in May, up 17 per cent from May 2022. The capacity (ASK) was 2,901 million seat kilometres, while actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 2,440 million seat kilometres. In May, Norwegian operated an average of 74 aircraft with a regularity, share of scheduled flights taking place, of 99.7 percent. Punctuality was at 84.9 percent in May, the share of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time. These results were achieved despite ongoing air traffic control issues at Copenhagen airport, accounting for almost half of this month’s delays and cancellations.

Looking forward to a busy summer

In May, Norwegian received its last delivery of the latest generation Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft ahead of the summer. Out of a total aircraft fleet of 81, the fleet now comprises 13 of this modern and fuel-efficient aircraft, which demonstrates Norwegian’s commitment to reducing emissions by renewing its fleet.

“I am very pleased that we have taken delivery of all the planned new aircraft for the summer season, as well as welcoming many new colleagues onboard. This allows us to serve our customers on Norwegian planes and operated by Norwegian crew rather than sourcing capacity via wet leases. We encourage customers who need to travel on specific dates during the busiest weeks in July to book their tickets with us soon,” said Karlsen.

Budget airline Norwegian lowers losses to NOK 992 million

The European budget airline based in Oslo has reported its results for the first quarter of 2023 which demonstrate how Norwegian' has lowered its debts for the period to NOK 992 million, that's around £74.1 million. The liquidity position improved through the quarter with cash and cash equivalents at quarter-end increasing to NOK 8.6 billion. At quarter-end, Norwegian's operational fleet comprised 72 aircraft.


"This quarter is a strong demonstration of our ability to adjust capacity to seasonal fluctuations in demand and to prepare well for the busy summer travel season ahead. Ahead of the summer season, we have phased in eleven latest generation aircraft and welcomed many new colleagues. I am very glad that we will not depend on wet-lease capacity this summer. Instead, we will be able to serve our customers entirely with our own aircraft and crew," said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.


In the first quarter of 2023, Norwegian had 3.8 million passengers, up from 2.2 million in the first quarter of 2022. Production (ASK) was 6.0 billion seat kilometres, while passenger traffic was 4.9 billion seat kilometres. Production was down 13 percent from the previous quarter as Norwegian utilised its fleet flexibility to match capacity to seasonally lower demand. The quarterly load factor was 80.9 percent which shows that capacity was well adjusted to lower demand.


High regularity despite challenging weather conditions


In 2022, Norwegian was named the most punctual airline in the Nordics, and the positive trend continues in the first quarter of 2023 despite challenging conditions, including poor weather conditions and French ATC strikes. The share of flights departing on the schedule was 83.5 percent, while regularity, the share of flights taking place, was 99.4 percent.


Well positioned for historically strong summer


“We are in the process of improving the customer experience at Oslo airport Gardermoen where we have welcomed 150 new colleagues to our newly established customer-facing ground handling services. This makes us well prepared, both on the ground and in the air, to welcome all passengers on board in what I believe will be the strongest summer ever for the airline,” said Karlsen.


Norwegian relaunched the award-winning ‘Norwegian Reward’ loyalty programme this winter with new benefits made available to all members. Exclusive priority benefits are available to the most frequent travellers, making it even more attractive for the increasing number of corporate travellers that choose Norwegian as their preferred airline. Norwegian’s loyalty programme was recently named the best loyalty programme in Europe and Africa at the prestigious Freddie Awards.


Looking ahead to a strong 2023 and a sustainable future


Norwegian recognises its responsibility to take a leading role in the sustainable transformation of the aviation sector. In addition to the renewal of Norwegian's fleet, sustainable aviation fuel will play a vital role in securing the airline's sustainability goals. In April, the company announced a landmark strategic partnership with Norsk e-Fuel to build the world's first full-scale e-fuel plant in Mosjøen, Norway, including an investment of over NOK 50 million. The plant will produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), marking an important milestone towards Norwegian's target of 45 percent emissions reduction by 2030.

Norwegian latest results .....

Norway's largest airline, the budget carrier Norwegian reportedly carried nearly 1.7 million (1,672,455)  passengers during the month of April with its aircraft 83% full on average. 

The airline flew 71 aircraft during the month and appeared to operate well with around 83 percent of flights departing on time or within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.  

“We are satisfied with this month’s traffic figures. April is the first full month of our summer schedule with more routes and higher frequencies to our many destinations across the Nordics and Europe. We are particularly pleased with the continued strong booking momentum ahead of the summer season,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

“We are very happy to see that an increasing number of passengers choose to fly with Norwegian and I look forward to welcoming new and old passengers onboard in what looks like will be the strongest summer ever for Norwegian. We recommend that customers who need to travel on specific dates and to particular destinations book tickets as soon as possible, as our planes are quickly filling up during the busiest travel periods”, said Karlsen.

1.6 million people travelled with Norwegian in April

Norway's largest airline, the budget carrier Norwegian reportedly carried nearly 1.7 million (1,672,455)  passengers during the month of April with its aircraft 83% full on average. 

The airline flew 71 aircraft during the month and appeared to operate well with around 83 percent of flights departing on time or within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.  

“We are satisfied with this month’s traffic figures. April is the first full month of our summer schedule with more routes and higher frequencies to our many destinations across the Nordics and Europe. We are particularly pleased with the continued strong booking momentum ahead of the summer season,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

“We are very happy to see that an increasing number of passengers choose to fly with Norwegian and I look forward to welcoming new and old passengers onboard in what looks like will be the strongest summer ever for Norwegian. We recommend that customers who need to travel on specific dates and to particular destinations book tickets as soon as possible, as our planes are quickly filling up during the busiest travel periods”, said Karlsen.

Norwegian wins for its Reward loyalty programme....

Norwegian Reward wins international award for best loyalty programme

The people at European budget airline Norwegian are celebrating after its loyalty programme, Norwegian Reward, was named the best loyalty programme at the Freddie Awards. These awards are among the travel industry’s most internationally acclaimed accolades.  The company also received an award in the categories Best Promotion and Best Customer Service. 

Norwegian has won a Freddie Award in the categories Programme of the Year, Best Promotion and Best Customer Service. Norwegian was nominated in no less than six categories. The Freddie Awards are the largest annual global awards for loyalty programs within the travel industry. The ceremony was held in Washington D.C.

“Winning a Freddie Award truly is a great honour. This is a true recognition of our loyalty programme as the award is based entirely on members’ votes. We’ve been working hard to keep giving our loyal members better flights for less and we are particularly excited that this award coincides with the launch of our renewed Reward programme in May,” said May Haukedahl Wilson, VP Loyalty and Partnerships at Norwegian.

Norwegian partners with Norsk e-Fuel to build new e-fuel plant in Norway

E-fuels can become a game-changer for aviation

Norwegian has announced a landmark partnership with Norsk e-Fuel to build the world’s first full-scale e-fuel plant in Mosjøen, Norway. The plant will produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), marking an important milestone towards Norwegian's target of 45 percent emissions reduction by 2030.

Norwegian has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Norsk e-Fuel, with the ambition to secure long-term offtake of SAF and an equity stake in the company. The partnership will contribute to speeding up the production and availability of SAF in favour of a more sustainable aviation industry. The parties aim to finalise the detailed agreement within the next few months.

“We are moving Norwegian into the future. Our sector contributes to great value creation, both socially and economically, and we commit to significantly reducing our climate impact as we take advantage of technological advances within aviation fuel. E-fuels can become a game-changer for aviation. The partnership with Norsk e-Fuel is a landmark agreement for Norwegian, but also a milestone for aviation in Norway. It helps us move closer to the promise we have given our customers. We want to make it possible for everyone to fly sustainably,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Together for a future-proof, sustainable aviation sector

The goal is to start producing e-fuels in Mosjøen in Northern Norway as early as 2026. The partnership with Norsk e-Fuel is estimated to secure approximately 20 percent of Norwegian’s total demand for SAF until 2030. In addition, Norwegian will invest more than NOK 50 million for a minority equity stake in the company. These measures will contribute to reaching Norwegian’s goal of a 45 percent emission reduction by 2030. They also positively impact the European aviation industry’s goal of net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.

“Sustainable aviation fuels need to become both more available and less expensive. To make this a reality, the aviation industry depends on collaborating with public authorities to close the price gap between fossil fuels and e-fuels. Ultimately, e-fuels will be able to compete with and replace fossil fuels. Time is crucial and we are very eager to get started,” said Karlsen.

Investing in the world’s first full scale e-fuels production facility

Budget airline Norwegian to improve onboard WiFi service

The European budget airline Norwegian is renewing its partnership with Anuvu making it the first airline outside of North America that will launch Anuvu’s cutting-edge high-speed WiFi technology. The partnership will pave the way for stable, fast and reliable WiFi onboard that will improve Norwegian’s customer experience in the years to come.

Norwegian has chosen Anuvu to provide new, award-winning WiFi technology onboard its fleet of aircraft. Norwegian will be the first airline in Europe to implement this cutting-edge technology which will allow customers to browse, stream, upload and download from the internet at speeds up to twenty times faster than what is currently available. In addition, the technology has extra bandwidth, allowing ten times as many customers to access the internet simultaneously without impacting performance.

“We are very excited about this renewed partnership with Anuvu. We expect to be able to start rolling out the new solution within the next year, significantly improving the WiFi solutions we offer our customers. We are constantly working on developing and improving our services on board and having a seamless, stable WiFi experience in the air is critical to many of our customers – making it one of our most important priorities,” said Christoffer Sundby, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer at Norwegian.

Latest results from budget airline Norwegian

Norwegian carried 1.5 million passengers in March with a load factor of 81% the airline reported this week. 

“March has been very solid month for Norwegian in terms of traffic figures. It marks the return of the summer schedule with a considerable ramp up in capacity. We very much look forward to welcoming a growing number of passengers on board over the summer months of 2023,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Norwegian had 1,502,366 passengers in March, up 60 percent from March 2022. The capacity (ASK) was 2,347 million seat kilometres, while actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 1,903 million seat kilometres. In March, Norwegian operated an average of 67 aircraft with a regularity, share of scheduled flights taking place, of 99.2 percent. Despite both challenging weather conditions and significant labour action affecting air traffic across Europe, punctuality was at 81 percent in March, measuring the number of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time. However, 95 percent of all departed flights arrived on schedule or within one hour of scheduled arrival time.

Strong booking rate exceeding 2022

Norwegian continues to experience solid demand for air travel with a persistently strong booking momentum.

Norwegian carried 1.5 million passengers in March

Norwegian carried 1.5 million passengers in March with a load factor of 81% the airline reported this week. 

“March has been very solid month for Norwegian in terms of traffic figures. It marks the return of the summer schedule with a considerable ramp up in capacity. We very much look forward to welcoming a growing number of passengers on board over the summer months of 2023,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Norwegian had 1,502,366 passengers in March, up 60 percent from March 2022. The capacity (ASK) was 2,347 million seat kilometres, while actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 1,903 million seat kilometres. In March, Norwegian operated an average of 67 aircraft with a regularity, share of scheduled flights taking place, of 99.2 percent. Despite both challenging weather conditions and significant labour action affecting air traffic across Europe, punctuality was at 81 percent in March, measuring the number of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time. However, 95 percent of all departed flights arrived on schedule or within one hour of scheduled arrival time.

Strong booking rate exceeding 2022

Norwegian continues to experience solid demand for air travel with a persistently strong booking momentum.

Norwegian will offer 144 routes to 65 destinations this winter....

European budget airline Norwegian has recently announced its schedule for the winter season 2023-2024 which will see the carrier fly 144 routes to 65 destinations.    

"Next winter, we have 144 routes within and between the Nordic countries and to destinations in Europe. We continue our most popular routes, and the mix of destinations gives customers the opportunity to fly with us to dream vacations with sun and beach, art and culture, or activity holidays," said Magnus Thome Maursund, commercial director of Norwegian.

Norwegian continues with direct departures to exciting destinations in Europe from all the major Nordic airports, such as Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki. In addition to direct routes from Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Haugesund, Ålesund, Tromsø and Sandefjord in Norway and from Gothenburg in Sweden and Aalborg in Denmark.

Some routes to the most popular ski destinations in the Alps will be announced later. Norwegian operates a summer and winter programme that changes twice a year, respectively at the end of October and the end of March. In a few weeks, the summer programme will start with 300 routes to 114 destinations. Among many popular and familiar destinations, the summer programme also contains some new destinations including Bari, Skopje, Porto, Bologna, Bucuresti, Sofia, Milano/Bergamo, Alanya/Gazipasa, and Thessaloniki.

Norwegian unwraps its winter season 2023-2024 schedule

The budget European airline Norwegian has wrapped details of its winter flight schedule which includes services to Sofia and Porto.

144 routes to 65 destinations are on the schedule for the next winter season, and Norwegian continues to fly to Nordic citizens’ favourite cities and vacation spots in southern Europe. Tickets are available for immediate booking.

"Next winter, we have 144 routes within and between the Nordic countries and to destinations in Europe. We continue our most popular routes, and the mix of destinations gives customers the opportunity to fly with us to dream vacations with sun and beach, art and culture, or activity holidays," said Magnus Thome Maursund, commercial director of Norwegian.

Norwegian continues with direct departures to exciting destinations in Europe from all the major Nordic airports, such as Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen and Helsinki. In addition to direct routes from Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Haugesund, Ålesund, Tromsø and Sandefjord in Norway and from Gotland in Sweden and Aalborg in Denmark.

Some routes to the most popular ski destinations in the Alps will be announced later. Norwegian operates a summer and winter programme that changes twice a year, respectively at the end of October and the end of March. In a few weeks, the summer programme will start with 300 routes to 114 destinations. Among many popular and familiar destinations, the summer programme also contains some new destinations including Bari, Skopje, Porto, Bologna, Bucuresti, Sofia, Milano/Bergamo, Alanya/Gazipasa, and Thessaloniki.

Budget airline Norwegian posts strong traffic figures in February

Norwegian delivers strong traffic figures in February 

Norwegian had 1.2 million passengers and a load factor of 84 percent in February. The airline experienced high demand for winter holiday travels and is currently preparing to welcome both corporate and leisure passengers as it ramps up capacity when moving from the winter to summer schedule.

In February, Norwegian had 1.2 million passengers, an increase of 83 percent from this month last year. The load factor was 84 percent. Many Nordic travellers took advantage of the winter holidays, flying with Norwegian to warmer places in the Mediterranean and popular winter destinations in the Alps. In addition, a high number of travellers used the winter break to book their Easter travels, long weekends in May and summer holiday flights with Norwegian.

“We are satisfied with the traffic figures this past month, and we are particularly pleased with a load factor of 84 percent. This demonstrates Norwegian’s ability to offer an attractive product to passengers throughout the year, even during the seasonally slower winter months. High load factors also increase our fuel efficiency, an important parameter from a sustainability perspective,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Norwegian had 1,173,408 passengers in February, up 83 percent from February 2022. The capacity (ASK) was 1,826 million seat kilometres, while actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 1,530 million seat kilometres. In February, Norwegian operated an average of 64 aircraft and 99.4 percent of the scheduled flights were completed. Punctuality, the number of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time, was at 85.4 percent in February.

Norwegian carried 1.2 million passengers during February.

Norwegian delivers strong traffic figures in February 

Norwegian had 1.2 million passengers and a load factor of 84 percent in February. The airline experienced high demand for winter holiday travels and is currently preparing to welcome both corporate and leisure passengers as it ramps up capacity when moving from the winter to summer schedule.

In February, Norwegian had 1.2 million passengers, an increase of 83 percent from this month last year. The load factor was 84 percent. Many Nordic travellers took advantage of the winter holidays, flying with Norwegian to warmer places in the Mediterranean and popular winter destinations in the Alps. In addition, a high number of travellers used the winter break to book their Easter travels, long weekends in May and summer holiday flights with Norwegian.

“We are satisfied with the traffic figures this past month, and we are particularly pleased with a load factor of 84 percent. This demonstrates Norwegian’s ability to offer an attractive product to passengers throughout the year, even during the seasonally slower winter months. High load factors also increase our fuel efficiency, an important parameter from a sustainability perspective,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Norwegian had 1,173,408 passengers in February, up 83 percent from February 2022. The capacity (ASK) was 1,826 million seat kilometres, while actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 1,530 million seat kilometres. In February, Norwegian operated an average of 64 aircraft and 99.4 percent of the scheduled flights were completed. Punctuality, the number of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time, was at 85.4 percent in February.

Norwegian to fly emergency aid to Ethiopia in support of UNICEF

Today, Norwegian’s most important flight of the year is bound for drought-hit Ethiopia. The flight marks the return of Norwegian and UNICEF’s “Fill a Plane” initiative which is now back for the sixth time. This year, Norwegian’s plane is loaded with emergency aid for drought-stricken children that are affected by the region’s worst hunger crisis in 40 years.

For the sixth time, Norwegian in collaboration with UNICEF Norway are sending a plane with emergency aid to one of the world’s major crisis zones. This year’s mission will bring relief to children affected by famine and drought in Ethiopia. This morning, Norwegian's newest 737 MAX 8 aircraft was loaded with 10 tonnes of emergency aid from UNICEF's warehouse in Copenhagen – the world’s largest humanitarian warehouse.

“Finally, together with UNICEF, we can once again fill a plane with emergency aid. I am very happy that we can contribute to getting even more direct emergency aid to children in Ethiopia and, through this, contribute to putting the spotlight on one of the world's biggest crises,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Internal engagement is central driver for collaboration

Norwegian is providing the aircraft, crew and key employees to UNICEF for this mission.

“Thanks to the fantastic efforts of Norwegian's employees, we can now send a fully loaded plane with medical equipment and other emergency aid to the Horn of Africa. It means a lot to have employees who are such active supporters,” said Camilla Viken, Secretary General of UNICEF Norway.

The collaboration between Norwegian and UNICEF Norway stretches back more than 15 years.

“The partnership with UNICEF is a great source of pride internally at Norwegian. Most importantly, we see that our contributions are having meaningful and immediate results. Through fundraising campaigns by employees, humanitarian campaigns and donations from customers we have contributed to giving children all over the world better living conditions,” said Karlsen.

About the crisis in Ethiopia

Norwegian Reward to be relaunched

The Norwegian Reward loyalty programme is getting a new look and with this comes new benefits. During springtime, several extra benefits for the most frequent flyers will be introduced.

Norwegian Reward is Norwegian's award-winning loyalty programme. Norwegian Reward is now being renewed with the same aim as before – to give Norwegian's customers cheaper flights and an even smoother journey. Earning CashPoints and benefits are still at the core of the programme. The more Reward members choose to fly with Norwegian, the more benefits they receive. Norwegian is also adding a range of new benefits for the most frequent flyers.

Greater freedom when choosing benefits

Reward members will receive a new benefit for every eighth flight taken within 12 months, including stopovers. The first benefit is always 2% extra CashPoints on all Norwegian flight tickets. After the next eight flights, members can choose which benefit they would like next. On top of choosing from free checked baggage, seat reservation, Fast Track or an additional 2% earning of CashPoints, members can now also choose to claim an overhead cabin bag as their next benefit.“Our members have told us that the benefits they can choose from are among the loyalty programme’s most important perks. In addition to greater flexibility when choosing benefits, we are now also adding free overhead cabin bag as a benefit to choose from,” said Christoffer Sundby, Chief Marketing and Customer Officer Norwegian.

Choose benefits The ‘Rewards’ in our programme will be called benefits moving forward, and you’ll get a new benefit for every 8th flight you take within 12 months, including stopovers. The first benefit you’ll receive is always 2% extra CashPoints. After your next 8 flights, you can decide for yourself which benefits you’d like next. Choose from:

Free checked baggage Free standard seat reservation Another 2% extra CashPoints (can be selected up to 3 times) Free Fast Track NEW! Free overhead cabin baggage*

NEW! Exclusive benefits for frequent flyers Once you reach 32 flights in 12 months, you’ll receive all of the remaining benefits above that you hadn’t already chosen, plus a set of exclusive perks, reserved for our most frequent flyers! These benefits will be rolled out during spring 2023, and include:

Free coffee and tea on board** Priority Boarding Priority customer service No expiry date on CashPoints***

And more...

Earn CashPoints You still earn CashPoints every time you fly with us or make a purchase with one of Norwegian Reward’s partners. How many CashPoints you earn on your flights depends on your ticket type. You’ll earn: 1% CashPoints on LowFare tickets 2% CashPoints on LowFare+ tickets 5% CashPoints on Flex tickets Use your CashPoints to pay for part or all of your next Norwegian flight!

Norwegian reports an operating profit of NOK 1,502 million for 2022

Norwegian reports an operating profit (EBIT) of NOK 1,502 million for 2022

Norwegian has reported its results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the preliminary full-year results for 2022. For the full-year of 2022, Norwegian delivered an operating profit (EBIT) of NOK 1,502 million. The airline limits losses before tax (EBT) to NOK 80 million in a quarter characterised by seasonally softer demand, demonstrating Norwegian's ability to adjust capacity and conserve liquidity when moving from the busy summer season and into the quieter winter trading period.

For the fourth quarter of 2022, the company delivered an operating loss of NOK 39 million. Profit before tax (EBT) amounted to negative NOK 80 million in the quarter. Continued liquidity discipline led the company to conclude the year with a cash position of NOK 7.8 billion. At year-end, the Norwegian fleet comprised of 70 aircraft.

"We now close a chapter on 2022, a year where our operations have performed well, in spite of sweeping industry challenges across European airports. For the full year, we delivered an operating profit (EBIT) of NOK 1,502 million despite record-high fuel prices and a strong US dollar," said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Norwegian had 4.6 million passengers, up from 3.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Production (ASK) was 6.9 billion seat kilometres, while passenger traffic (RPK) was 5.7 billion seat kilometres. The load factor increased to 81.4 percent from 77.0 percent in the same period last year.

Most punctual Nordic airline

Norwegian wins three awards at the Grand Travel Awards

Norwegian wins three awards at the Grand Travel Awards

The Grand Travel Award was established in 1995 and holds an annual prize giving ceremony for the Norwegian travel trade. Votes are cast by employees throughout the travel and tourism industry. The award ceremony took place in Oslo on Thursday evening.

CEO Geir Karlsen awarded Leader of the Year.

After receiving his award for Leader of the Year, Norwegian’s CEO, Geir Karlsen said; "It is truly an honour to receive this award. I must, however, share this with all my colleagues in Norwegian. The strong unity across departments, nationalities and our bases is essential and the reason we can deliver a first-class product to our customers. Since this award is given by the travel and tourism industry it means a lot to me”.

Norwegian is the largest Norwegian airline, and one of Europe's leading low-cost carriers with over 4,000 employees. From its bases in Norway and other cities in Europe, the airline offers an extensive route network between the Nordic countries to destinations across the continent. According to the on-time performance review from Cirium for 2022, Norwegian was the most punctual airline in the Nordics and amongst the best in Europe.

Best Domestic Airline and the Best Airline in Europe

Norwegian had 1.3 million passengers in December.....

In December, Norwegian had more than 1.3 million passengers, an increase of 41 percent compared to December 2021. During 2022 Norwegian had 18 million passengers. Solid operations during the holiday travel season concluded a positive year marked by a tripling of passenger numbers, a return of high demand for air travel and continued positive booking trends.

“We are delighted to see that an increasing number of Nordic passengers choose Norwegian as their preferred airline when travelling to see friends and family during the busy holiday season that this month brings. On domestic travels in Norway, passenger numbers are now on par with pre-pandemic levels. Despite challenging weather on many of the busiest travel days that affected aviation both in the Nordics and in Europe, we managed to take passengers to their Christmas destinations. More than nine out of ten flights arrived on time or within one hour of their scheduled arrival time,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Norwegian had 1,315,924 passengers in December, up 41 percent from December 2021. The load factor in December was 77.8 percent. The capacity (ASK) was 2,120 million seat kilometres, while actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 1,650 million seat kilometres. In December, Norwegian operated an average of 64 aircraft and 99.0 percent of the scheduled flights were completed. Punctuality, as measured by the number of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time, was at 71.6 percent in December, mainly due to challenging weather conditions at several European airports.

In 2022 Norwegian had close to 18 million passengers, triple the number of passengers from the previous year. The load factor was 83.1 percent for the year. Thanks to the company's solid financial situation, Norwegian is now able to hedge jet fuel for both 2023 and 2024. Current fuel hedges, which run through 2023, are struck at levels below today’s spot price.

New Year’s sales exceeding expectations

“All in all, 2022 has been a very good year for Norwegian. A strong pent-up demand for air travel, particularly for beach destinations during the peak leisure season, resulting in a record busy summer. We continue to experience positive booking trends and ticket sales are currently exceeding our expectations. Our customers have responded very positively to our New Year's sale and are taking advantage of the campaign to plan this year’s travels, both short and long term,” said Karlsen.