Norwegian Group Drives Aviation Growth as Norwegian and Widerøe Serve 2.9 Million Passengers

Written By: Binoy Mehera

Binoy Mehera

A curious mind driven by a passion for storytelling, I find inspiration in uncovering hidden perspectives, exploring diverse experiences, and shaping ideas into narratives that leave an impact. With three years of experience in journalism and content creation, I have developed a strong instinct for identifying meaningful stories, blending research with creativity, and presenting information in a way that connects with readers. My storytelling journey is guided by a fascination for culture, travel, lifestyle, and the human experiences that define our world. I aim to create narratives that not only inform but also spark curiosity, evoke emotions, and offer audiences a deeper understanding of every story.

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September 4, 2026 3:47 PM

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Norwegian Group showed improvement in its aviation performance for August due to strong demand for air travel and improved operations. Norwegian Group’s airlines transported 2.9 million passengers last month. Norwegian transported 2.5 million passengers and Widerøe transported 359,000 passengers. Norwegian Group’s load factor (occupancy rate of seats sold) also showed improvement at 86.3 percent last month. Widerøe also continued providing high level of punctuality, keeping its reputation for reliable regional air connections.

“August was a month of solid demand and strong operational performance. I am very satisfied that we delivered both increased capacity and a higher load factor compared to the same month last year. The air traffic controller strike at the end of the month led to cancellations and delays for more than 20,000 of our passengers. This is of course very unfortunate. However, disregarding the cancellations due to the Avinor strike, our regularity was 99.6 percent, which is at the level we strive to be at,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Norwegian recorded a 3 per cent increase in capacity in August, reaching 4,110 million available seat kilometres (ASK), compared with the same month in 2025. Passenger traffic (RPK) also grew by 4 per cent year-on-year to 3,547 million seat kilometres. The airline’s load factor improved to 86.3 per cent, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous year.

Norwegian achieved a regularity rate of 98.9 per cent, meaning the vast majority of scheduled flights operated as planned. The cancellations were mainly linked to an air traffic controller strike. The airline recorded an on-time departure rate of 80.8 per cent, with flights leaving within 15 minutes of their scheduled departure time. During August, Norwegian operated an average fleet of 94 aircraft.

“We see that the booking momentum remains at a high level heading into the autumn, in particular for the autumn school holidays. At the same time, the Norwegian Reward loyalty programme has reached ten million members, and we are updating the programme with five new, distinct status tiers. We want to give our customers even more back for choosing us, and it will now be clearer and more motivating to climb the tiers,” said Karlsen.

Widerøe recorded a 2 per cent increase in capacity in August, reaching 197 million available seat kilometres (ASK) compared with the same period last year. Passenger traffic (RPK) remained stable at 150 million seat kilometres, unchanged from August 2025. The airline’s load factor stood at 75.8 per cent, representing a decline of 1.8 percentage points year-on-year.

Widerøe achieved a regularity rate of 97.4 per cent, with most scheduled services operating as planned. The airline also delivered strong punctuality performance, with 93.3 per cent of flights departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, an improvement of 1.5 percentage points compared with the previous year.

“Widerøe’s employees ensure world-class operations, and we achieved very strong punctuality in August. We know our customers appreciate this,” said Tore Jenssen, CEO of Widerøe.