Press release -
Norwegian Group entered autumn with 2.7 million passengers in September
In September, Norwegian had 2,302,536 passengers, while Widerøe had 395,637 passengers, bringing the Group total to 2,698,173 passengers. On 26 September, Norwegian announced it will exercise the option to expand its Boeing MAX 8 order by 30 aircraft, bringing the total to 80. Norwegian also unveiled several new [exciting] routes, including 10 from Billund Airport.
“September was a strong month in terms of both passenger numbers and load factor. This confirms that we have an attractive network well adapted to our customers' travel requirements. Widerøe continues to perform well, and I am very pleased with the operational performance and regularity they are delivering. Soon Widerøe will be a part of Norwegian Reward, and I would like to say welcome to all their customers who are joining our award-winning loyalty programme from 16 October,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
Norwegian’s capacity (ASK) in September was 3,603 million seat kilometres, up 2 percent from last year. Actual passenger traffic (RPK) for Norwegian was 3,118 million seat kilometres, an increase of 3 percent. The load factor was 86.6 percent, up 1.4 percentage points. Norwegian operated an average of 89 aircraft during September.
Widerøe’s capacity (ASK) in September was 202 million seat kilometres, an increase of 11 percent from last year. The actual passenger traffic (RPK) for Widerøe was 148 million seat kilometres, while the load factor was 73.4 percent, down 0.1 percentage points.
Norwegian and Widerøe’s punctuality, defined as the share of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time, was 78.9 percent and 94.0 percent respectively. Regularity, measured by the share of scheduled flights taking place, was 99.1 percent for Norwegian and 98.4 percent for Widerøe. Both airlines were affected by airspace closures in Denmark and Norway due to suspected drone activity. Close to 40 percent of Norwegian’s cancellations in September occurred during and immediately after the closures at Copenhagen Airport and Oslo Airport.
Fleet order and network growth
September brought several major developments for the Norwegian Group. In addition to the announcement of Widerøe joining Norwegian Reward, Norwegian launched the 2026 summer programme and exercised the option to expand the Boeing MAX 8 order.
“This has been an especially active month. I am very pleased that we could confirm we will be exercising our option to expand the Boeing order by 30 aircraft. This will be pivotal to our ongoing fleet renewal and underlines Norwegian’s growth ambitions in the years ahead. We launched our summer programme on 10 September and added several new and exciting destinations, including 10 new international routes from Billund, Denmark. The booking momentum is encouraging, with high loads during the autumn holiday periods, and with demand for winter and Christmas travel increasing,” said Geir Karlsen.
In addition to the base summer programme, Norwegian launched eight new routes during September and later announced 10 new routes from Billund:
- Oslo – Tangier
- Oslo – Palermo
- Bergen – Riga
- Bergen - Palanga
- Stockholm – Milan
- Stockholm – Hamburg
- Gothenburg – Tirana
- Copenhagen – Cluj
From Billund:
Barcelona, Bergamo, Chania, Edinburgh, Rome, Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), Malta, Naples, Nice, Porto.
A separate press release on Widerøe’s traffic figures is available in the Widerøe media centre (In Norwegian only).
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About Norwegian
The Norwegian group is a leading Nordic aviation company, headquartered at Fornebu outside Oslo, Norway. The company has over 8,200 employees and owns two of the prominent airlines in the Nordics: Norwegian Air Shuttle and Widerøe’s Flyveselskap. Widerøe was acquired by Norwegian in 2024, aiming to facilitate seamless air travel across the two airline’s networks.
Norwegian Air Shuttle, the largest Norwegian airline with around 4,700 employees, operates an extensive route network connecting Nordic countries to key European destinations. In 2024, Norwegian carried 22,6 million passengers and maintained a fleet of 86 Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Widerøe’s Flyveselskap, Norway’s oldest airline, is Scandinavia’s largest regional carrier. The airline has more than 3,500 employees. Mainly operating the short-runway airports in rural Norway, Widerøe operates several state contract routes (PSO routes) in addition to its own commercial network. In 2024, the airline had 3.8 million passengers and a fleet of 49 aircraft, including 46 Bombardier Dash 8’s and three Embraer E190-E2's. Widerøe Ground Handling provides ground handling services at 41 Norwegian airports.
The Norwegian group has sustainability as a key priority and has committed to significantly reducing carbon emissions from its operations. Among numerous initiatives, the most noteworthy is the investment in production and use of fossil-free aviation fuel (SAF). Norwegian strives to become the sustainable choice for its passengers, actively contributing to the transformation of the aviation industry.
