Norwegian and Widerøe post strong passenger numbers for December

In December 2024, Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian) and Widerøe transported a combined total of 1,769,513 passengers, with Norwegian carrying 1,476,256 and Widerøe 293,257. For the year, more than 26.4 million passengers travelled with the two airlines, marking a significant achievement for the group.

Norwegian's capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), rose by 24% year-on-year to 2,491 million seat kilometres in December. Passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), increased by 22% to 2,049 million seat kilometres. The load factor for the month was 82.2%, a slight decrease of 1.4 percentage points compared to December 2023. Unit revenue also saw a modest decline, primarily attributed to a 10% increase in average sector length. Norwegian operated an average of 73 aircraft during the month.

December presented operational difficulties for Norwegian due to adverse weather and issues at airports across Europe and the Nordics. Despite these challenges, the airline maintained a regularity rate of 98.8%, a slight decrease of 0.7 percentage points. Punctuality improved marginally by 0.3 percentage points, with 70.7% of flights departing within 15 minutes of their scheduled time.

Additionally, the Oslo District Court ruled in Norwegian's favour regarding EU ETS obligations during its 2020 reconstruction. The court found the airline was not liable for a penalty of nearly NOK 400 million, ruling the penalty unlawful and entitling Norwegian to a full refund with interest. This decision, however, is not yet final.

For Widerøe, capacity in December increased by 2% year-on-year to 152 million seat kilometres, while passenger traffic reached 111 million seat kilometres. The load factor improved by 2.6 percentage points, reaching 73.3%. Widerøe also set a new record in 2024, flying 3.8 million passengers, its highest annual figure to date.

The strong results for both airlines underline their resilience and operational growth, despite facing significant challenges during the final month of the year.