Norwegian Airlines and Widerøe Celebrate Strong July Performance, Reaching 2.85 Million Passengers
Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Norwegian Airlines saw a remarkable surge in passenger numbers in July, carrying 2,526,093 travelers. Its regional partner, Widerøe, served 331,035 passengers, bringing the group’s total to 2,857,128. This represents a notable 9 percent increase in passenger traffic for Norwegian Airlines compared to July last year, marking the highest passenger count since 2019. Additionally, the airline’s unit revenue matched the record figure achieved in July of the previous year, underscoring its robust performance.
“I am very pleased with the incredible job all our colleagues have been doing during the busiest travel month of the year. Their hard work is reflected across all our numbers, including a record high number of passengers who have chosen to travel with the group. For Norwegian, I am particularly pleased that we that we delivered an improved load factor versus last year while at the same time increasing capacity by 10 percent. We are excited to see a solid booking momentum for August and further into the autumn season,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
Norwegian Airlines experienced a notable increase in capacity (ASK) in July, reaching 4,068 million seat kilometers, a 10 percent rise compared to the same period last year. The actual passenger traffic (RPK) also grew by 10 percent, totaling 3,763 million seat kilometers. The load factor saw a slight uptick of 0.1 percentage points from July 2023, reaching 92.5 percent, and marked an impressive increase of over 8 percentage points from the previous month.
The airline demonstrated exceptional operational reliability, with 99.5 percent of scheduled flights taking place as planned. However, punctuality saw a slight decline, with 67.6 percent of flights departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled time, a drop of 5.6 percentage points from the previous year. Despite this, 93 percent of flights arrived within 60 minutes of the scheduled arrival time, a notable achievement given the heavily congested European airspace and several air traffic control (ATC) restrictions. Norwegian Airlines operated an average of 87 aircraft in July.
Widerøe, Norwegian’s regional partner, also delivered strong performance in July, showing significant improvement from last year. The regional airline’s load factor increased by 4 percentage points compared to July 2023, reaching 83.5 percent.
“We are pleased with Widerøe’s continuing positive performance. This July Widerøe had a record high load factor for the month of July. This demonstrates that passengers appreciate the consistent high level of service our Widerøe colleagues are delivering. We look forward to continuously improving the travel experience across the entire Norwegian group for all our passengers”, said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
In July, Widerøe’s capacity (ASK) reached 201 million seat kilometers. The actual passenger traffic (RPK) totaled 168 million seat kilometers, resulting in a load factor of 83.5 percent, a 4 percentage point increase compared to July of the previous year.
