In April, Norwegian had 1,931,550 passengers, while Widerøe had 334,228 passengers, totalling 2,265,778 for the group. Capacity growth stabilised compared to the previous months, and April had a 3.2 percentage point increase in load factor compared to last year. Norwegian continues to have strong operational performance, and a robust booking momentum going into summer.
“We are very pleased with April, especially in terms of passenger numbers and operational performance. Easter contributed to a solid load factor in April, despite capacity increasing by over 25 percent compared to last year’s Easter week. In addition, we are proud that Widerøe managed to set a record in the number of passengers during a single day, not once, but twice, in April,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
Norwegian’s capacity (ASK) in April was 3,194 million seat kilometres, up 1 percent from last year. Actual passenger traffic (RPK) for Norwegian was 2,669 million seat kilometres, up 5 percent. The load factor was 83.6 percent, up 3.2 percentage points. Norwegian operated an average of 82 aircraft during April.
Widerøe’s capacity (ASK) in April was 174 million seat kilometres, down 2 percent from last year. The actual passenger traffic (RPK) for Widerøe was 125 million seat kilometres, while the load factor was 71.8 percent, up 7.7 percentage points.
Norwegian and Widerøe’s punctuality, defined as share of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time, was 88.1 percent and 85.5, respectively. Regularity, measured by the share of scheduled flights taking place, was 99.6 percent for Norwegian and 94.5 percent for Widerøe.
Solid momentum in operations and bookings
Norwegian continued its solid trend on operations through April and during the busy Easter holiday period.
“I am proud of our hard-working colleagues who are delivering strong results on operational performance. This bodes well for the rest of the summer programme, and ticket sales for the summer are higher this year than what we saw during the same period last year. We are ready for a busy summer,” said Geir Karlsen.
In April, Norwegian and Strawberry announced that Reitan Retail is becoming a new partner and co-owner of the loyalty currency Spenn. In the announcement, CEO Geir Karlsen said: “This will give all customers of Norwegian, Strawberry and Reitan Retail improved benefits in the future.”
