Widerøe set a new passenger record in September, the regional airline confirmed last week. The carrier, now part of The Norwegian Group, reported September's load factor was 73.5% with 356,259 passengers flying with them during the month. Never before in the company's 90-year history have so many passengers flown with the airline in a single month. This record is all the more impressive when you consider capacity dropped by 6% from the previous month.
Another key highlight for Widerøe during the month was the recruitment of new pilots increasing, at the same time as experienced first officers are being trained and stepping into new roles as captains. The positive trend is also reflected in a record number of newly qualified cabin crew.
"We are very pleased with the month of September," says Widerøe's Chief Commercial Officer Christian Skaug. The fact that we succeed in moving the arrows further upwards enables an increase in sought-after routes. We are producing a little more than last year, while at the same time we are succeeding in filling the aircraft significantly better. It's gratifying," he continues. Now that we also use the autumn and winter to equip the crew corps, we hope to be able to continue the positive trend. We have already planned next summer and are getting ready for the summer season of all time," he concludes.
The airline has put its 2025 summer programme on sale which has an increase in capacity on several commercial routes, plus new routes between Tromsø and Leknes and Svolvær, respectively, as well as the direct route between Oslo and Brønnøysund from next year, there will be more departures on several popular routes. Between Bergen and Stavanger, we will increase capacity already from the winter, from six to nine daily departures. Bergen-Trondheim we are increasing from six to seven daily departures. Further frequency increases will be introduced between Bergen and Kristiansund, the Faroe Islands and Gothenburg. The investment in the north continues in the same way with more departures between Tromsø and Hammerfest, Alta, Trondheim and Bodø. With the summer program, Widerøe is also introducing its 78-seat aircraft, the Dash 8 Q400, between Tromsø and Kirkenes. This increases the availability of available aircraft seats compared to the current 39-seat aircraft on the route.
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