Norwegian is fine-tuning its network across Scandinavia following a record summer season, balancing capacity between mainline and regional operations while expanding its footprint in Denmark and the Baltics.
The group carried 8.4 million passengers in the third quarter of 2025, up 3% year-on-year, including 7.3 million on Norwegian and 1.1 million on Wideroe. The period marked the first full summer season since Norwegian’s acquisition of Wideroe.
“We have aligned the two networks in a better way, freeing up [Boeing] 737s in Norwegian so we can put that capacity into summer leisure destinations,” CEO Geir Karlsen said during the company’s third quarter results presentation.
During the September quarter, Norwegian increased capacity by 2% and Wideroe by 3%. However, Norwegian is reducing monthly capacity by 25% to 40% heading into the winter 2025-26 season—about a 5% year-on-year cut—to align with lower demand, while bookings are currently ahead of 2024 levels.
Beyond Norway, Norwegian is expanding its footprint in Denmark, where it announced 10 new routes from Billund for summer 2026, including services to Barcelona; Chania, Greece; Edinburgh; Rome; Gran Canaria; Malta; Milan Bergamo; Naples; Nice, France; and Porto, Portugal. The network expansion builds on existing routes to Alicante, London, Malaga, Oslo and Palma de Mallorca.
The carrier has also won a Danish government tender to operate the Aalborg-Copenhagen route using aircraft fueled with at least 40% sustainable aviation fuel from spring 2026. Refueling will take place at Aalborg Airport in cooperation with AFSN, DCC and Shell Aviation, and the initiative is expected to cut lifecycle CO2 emissions by about 6,700 metric tons annually.
Elsewhere in the region, Norwegian is building a presence in the Baltic market through a new base at Riga Airport in Latvia, opened in April 2024. The base is currently home to two 737-8 aircraft.
Karlsen said the Riga operation has quickly expanded beyond Nordic routes. “We started flying mainly into the Nordics,” he said. “But today we’re also flying to other destinations in Europe from Riga. AirBaltic is moving more into a wet-lease role, so this is a market we’re very much looking into, and hopefully we can grow the base into other European markets as well.”
Related Content
