Norwegian had 1,273,809 passengers in January, while Widerøe had 294,066 passengers, totalling 1,567,875. The number of passengers increased by 12 per cent for Norwegian and 19 per cent for Widerøe compared to January 2024. Norwegian had a capacity increase of 23 percent compared to last year.
“It is encouraging to see our passenger numbers continue to increase into the new year. We have added significantly to our capacity and this has, as we expected, impacted our load factor. While 2024 was marked with solid capacity growth, particularly in recent winter months, we will dedicate 2025 to cost initiatives and improved utilisation of capacity. It is good to see that we are strengthening our position as the leading airline group in Norway. Combined, Norwegian and Widerøe grew by over 1.7 million passengers according to Avinor’s numbers for 2024. This represents more than 70 percent of net growth in air travel in Norway, resulting in an overall market share of 50 percent” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
In January, Norwegian’s capacity (ASK) was 2,247 million seat kilometres, up 23 per cent from last year. Actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 1,844 million seat kilometres, up 22 per cent, while the load factor was 82.1 per cent, down one percentage point from the same period last year. During January, Norwegian’s punctuality, meaning the share of flights departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, decreased 2.6 percentage points from last year and ended at 71.3 per cent. This was mainly due to winter weather conditions early in the month, with the second half of January delivering punctuality of 85.5 per cent. Regularity, meaning the share of scheduled flights, was 98.6 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points. Norwegian operated an average of 72 aircraft during January.
For Widerøe, the capacity (ASK) in January was 158 million seat kilometres, up four per cent from last year. The actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 108 million seat kilometres, while the load factor was 68.4 per cent, up 6.1 percentage points from January last year.
Looking ahead to spring and summer
Norwegian received delivery of two new aircraft in January, which will be put to good use during the busy summer programme. The programme begins at the end of March and consists of 344 routes to over 120 destinations.
“I am very encouraged to see that Boeing seems to be successfully ramping up their production resulting in two brand new MAX 8 aircraft deliveries to our Copenhagen base in January. We are experiencing high demand for the Easter holidays, and we advise those planning to travel during this period to book early. Our preparations for the busy summer have begun, and we see that customers are eager to book early. We have added 17 new and exciting routes to Norwegian’s summer programme with some highlights including Tangier from Copenhagen, Toulouse from Oslo, Bilbao from Stockholm and Malta from Helsinki,” said Geir Karlsen.
Today, Norwegian released its winter programme 2025/2026 for sale. The winter programme starts at the end of October 2025.
