In May 2024, Norwegian Air Shuttle and its subsidiary Widerøe reported robust passenger growth, reflecting the recovering travel demand in the post-pandemic era. Norwegian carried 2,138,484 passengers in May, an impressive 12% increase compared to the same month last year. This growth was primarily driven by increased capacity, with the airline utilizing an average of 84 aircraft during the period to meet the rising demand for summer travel. Notably, Norwegian saw a surge in passenger numbers to southern European destinations, with approximately 650,000 passengers opting for beach getaways. This contributed to a 7% increase in the average flying distance, underscoring Norwegian’s strategic focus on expanding its reach to popular holiday destinations.
Widerøe, the regional airline owned by Norwegian, also reported a solid performance in May. While capacity remained stable compared to the previous months and last year, Widerøe experienced an impressive 10% increase in passenger numbers. This growth highlights the airline’s ability to effectively serve regional markets and cater to the growing demand for domestic air travel.
Norwegian’s capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), increased by 19% year-over-year to 3,466 million in May. This expansion allowed the airline to accommodate the rising passenger demand and offer more flight options to its customers. Passenger traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), reached 2,843 million, marking a 16% growth compared to May 2023. The load factor, indicating the percentage of seats filled, decreased slightly by 2 percentage points to 82%, reflecting the increased capacity and competitive market dynamics.
Widerøe’s capacity remained steady at 179 million ASK in May, unchanged from the previous months and last year. However, the airline’s passenger traffic increased to 124 million RPK, marking a 10% rise from May 2023. This growth was accompanied by an impressive 7% increase in the load factor, which reached 69.4%. The improvement in load factor suggests that Widerøe is effectively optimizing its flight operations and meeting the demand in its regional markets.
Both Norwegian and Widerøe maintained high levels of operational efficiency in May. Norwegian achieved a regularity rate of 99.5%, indicating that the vast majority of scheduled flights were executed as planned. Punctuality, defined as flights departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, improved by 1.2 percentage points to 86.1% compared to May 2023. Widerøe also maintained a strong regularity rate, with 99.4% of scheduled flights operating as planned.
Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian, expressed satisfaction with the passenger numbers and highlighted the airline’s strategic focus on expanding capacity for the summer season. He said, “I’m satisfied with the passenger numbers in May. About 650,000 of our passengers travelled to southern Europe destinations in May. The average flying distance increased 7 percent, demonstrating our significant capacity growth to beach destinations. Our capacity has been significantly increased overall for the summer season, and we look forward to welcoming even more passengers through the busy summer holidays.”
Karlsen also commended the Widerøe team for their dedication and hard work, which contributed to the airline’s strong performance. He said, “I am very pleased to see Widerøe continuing to deliver good results. The load factor increased an impressive 7 percent, with the majority of the improvement coming on the commercial network. I want to thank the Widerøe team for the great work they are doing.”
The strong performance of Norwegian and Widerøe in May 2024 reflects the resilience of the aviation industry as travel demand continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic. The airlines’ focus on expanding capacity, optimizing operations, and providing reliable and affordable air travel will continue to drive growth and success in the future.
