Widerøe
Regional airline of Norway / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Widerøes Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a Norwegian airline, and is the largest regional airline operating in the Nordic countries. The airline's fleet of 44 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft, with three more on order, and 3 Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, serves over 40 domestic and international destinations. Widerøe has a turnover of 3.5 billion kr; carries 2.8 million annual passengers; has 3,500 employees and performs 450 take-offs and landings each day.[3] Public service obligation services to regional airports make up slightly less than half of Widerøe's operations. The remaining services are to primary airports in northern Norway, and services from Sandefjord Airport, Torp and Bergen Airport, Flesland to other primary airports, and some international services from Oslo Airport, Gardermoen, Sandefjord Airport, Torp, Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik, Stavanger Airport, Sola, Bergen Airport, Flesland, and Trondheim Airport, Værnes.
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Founded | 19 February 1934; 90 years ago (1934-02-19) | ||||||
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Operating bases | |||||||
Frequent-flyer program | Norwegian Reward | ||||||
Fleet size | 47 | ||||||
Destinations | 56[1] | ||||||
Parent company | Norwegian Air Shuttle | ||||||
Headquarters | Bodø, Norway | ||||||
Key people | Stein Nilsen (CEO)[2] | ||||||
Founder | Viggo Widerøe | ||||||
Website | www |
The company's head offices are in Bodø, although it retains a large administrative center in Lysaker, Oslo.[4] The main bases are Sandefjord Airport, Torp, Bodø Airport, Tromsø Airport, Langnes, Bergen Airport, Flesland, Kirkenes Airport, and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. Widerøe's operations are focused on point-to-point transit, although the airline essentially feeds medium-haul and international airlines. Widerøe has interlining agreements and participates in EuroBonus for international flights.
The airline was established in 1934 by Viggo Widerøe, a notable Norwegian aviator, and was engaged in various general aviation activities in its early days. In 1936, Widerøe started scheduled seaplane flights and, from 1940, also ambulance flights. During the 1940s and 1950s, the airline increased its seaplane routes and established a fleet based on de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter and Noorduyn Norseman aircraft. From 1968, Widerøe started flying to STOLports in northern and western Norway using DHC-6 Twin Otters, and later also with Dash 7 aircraft. In 1989, Widerøe bought Norsk Air and started services from Sandefjord.
During the 1990s, Widerøe replaced all its aircraft with Dash 8 aircraft; in the 2000s it was bought by the SAS Group and took over SAS Commuter's operations in northern Norway. In 2010, Widerøe took over regional SAS services in western Norway. In 2013, SAS Group sold 80% of the shares to WF Holding, an investment company controlled by Torghatten ASA, and in June 2016 the remaining 20% of the shares were transferred to WF Holding, ending SAS ownership of Widerøe, albeit still as a close regional partner of SAS.[5] In July 2023, Norwegian Air Shuttle announced a deal to acquire Widerøe for 1.125 billion kr (US$104 million), which was finalised in January 2024.[6][7][8]