Norwegian Air Shuttle has today entered into a letter of intent to form a closer commercial partnership with Norwegian regional airline Widerøe. The agreement includes an interline partnership, facilitating seamless travel between the networks of both airlines.
On Tuesday (July 12, 2022), Norwegian Air Shuttle announced that they have signed a letter of intent with fellow Norwegian carrier Widerøe with the goal of forming a closer commercial partnership. The enhanced cooperation includes an interline agreement, which will allow customers of both airlines to seamlessly connect across both networks. Through the new partnership, the airlines hope to create synergies and efficiencies, while enhancing connectivity for passengers in Norway.
In Tuesday’s announcment, Norwegian’s CEO, Geir Karlsen, said,
“I am very satisfied with this agreement we have entered into today with Widerøe. Our goal is for the collaboration to be to the benefit of both companies' passengers, but also our employees. In many ways, the agreement is historic, that two Norwegian airlines are now coming together. Although much of the content is still in the making, we have had a good dialogue for several months already and discussed many different areas where we have a common interest in collaborating.”
Also commenting on the new commercial partnership, Widerøe’s CEO, Stein Nilsen, added,
“This is a day of joy for Widerøe and for all our passengers who are completely dependent on flying to live and work in Norway. With this agreement, our joint customers will be able to travel in combination with Norwegian and Widerøe, both at home and abroad. The combination of Widerøe's network along the coast and in northern Norway and Norwegian's large offer throughout Europe will create many new travel opportunities for our common customers. This is an offer that has been in demand by our passengers for many years and therefore especially nice to be able to share right now. There is still a long way to go before we are completely on target, but we work well together and have a common goal that this should be implemented as quickly as possible.”
Widerøe is Scandinavia’s largest regional airline. The carrier has 2,500 team members and an annual turnover of approximately NOK 3.5 billion (US $342.3 million). Widerøe carries around 2.8 million passengers annually and serves 40 domestic and international destinations. In 2018, the airline launched the brand new Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, becoming the world’s first carrier to operate the type.
Norwegian Air Shuttle was founded in 1993 and offers smart and pleasant travel experiences at low prices. The airline has been voted ‘Europe’s Best Low-Cost Airline’ by Skytrax for the last six years. Norwegian’s loyalty program, Norwegian Rewards, has also been voted ‘The Airline Industry’s Best Loyalty Program in Europe/Africa’ at the Freddie Awards four years in a row. In 2019, Norwegian became the first airline to sign the UN Climate Action Programme, committing to becoming climate neutral by 2050. The carrier currently offers affordable flights on a short-haul network of destinations in the Nordic countries and to key European destinations.
Source(s): Norwegian Air Shuttle / Mynewsdesk, Widerøe
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