Norwegian Group Reports Strong February With 1.5m Passengers

Norwegian Group has published its February results, showing passenger growth and benefits from integrating Norwegian Air Shuttle and Widerøe.

Norwegian Group Passengers And Performance

In February, Norwegian and Widerøe collectively carried 1,539,038 passengers, with Norwegian hosting 1,281,212 and Widerøe 257,826. Norwegian saw an increase in load factor to 86 percent, a two-percentage-point increase from last year and nearly the highest for February in their history.

“We are delighted to once again publish strong traffic figures, demonstrating the continued trust and value our customers place on the Norwegian product and our colleagues. A load factor of 86 percent is close to the highest ever recorded for the month of February. Booking trends continue to be solid across all markets and many flights are selling out for the Easter holiday period. We are grateful for the increasing number of passengers that choose to fly Norwegian, and look forward to welcoming them on board,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

In February, Norwegian Air Shuttle reported having 1,281,212 passengers. Their flight capacity increased by 7 percent from the previous year to 1,951 million seat kilometres (ASK), with actual passenger traffic (RPK) at 1,676 million seat kilometres. The airline operated an average of 68 aircraft with a flight regularity of 99.4 percent, and a punctuality rate of 81 percent, indicating flights departing within 15 minutes of their scheduled time.

Norwegian and Widerøe Deal Bearing Fruit

The integration of the two companies is advancing. Norwegian Red Handling has started providing ground services for Widerøe at Alicante Airport since February. Conversely, Widerøe Ground Handling is now managing ground services for Norwegian at six Norwegian airports: Molde, Trondheim, Stavanger, Bodø, Haugesund, and Ålesund.

”The acquisition of Widerøe is already bearing fruits as we continue to capture synergies across various areas. We look forward to continue to capitalise on best practices and improving the cooperation to the benefit of all customers, colleagues and other stakeholders,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

The monthly traffic report includes Widerøe’s historical traffic data from January 2022 to December 2023. In February, Widerøe’s production rose by 8 percent from the previous year and the load factor increased by 2 percentage points to 67 percent.

About Norwegian Group

The Norwegian group, a major aviation player in the Nordics, is based in Fornebu, Norway, and employs over 8,200 people. It owns Norwegian Air Shuttle and Widerøe’s Flyveselskap, which was acquired in 2024.

Norwegian Air Shuttle is the largest airline in Norway, employing 4,700 people. It carried more than 20 million passengers in 2023. Norwegian operates a fleet of 87 Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Widerøe is the oldest Norwegian airline and the largest regional carrier in Scandinavia, employing 3,500 staff. In 2023, the carrier served 3.3 million passengers. It has a fleet of 48 aircraft, including 45 Bombardier Dash 8s and three Embraer E190-E2 jets.

The Norwegian Group prioritizes sustainability to become an eco-friendly choice for travelers. It strongly focuses on reducing carbon emissions and invests in sustainable aviation fuel.