Regional airline Widerøe cuts flights in northern Norway
Routes from Tromsø to Kirkenes, Vadsø and Skagen will be reduced by October 1 as the demand for air travel has dropped dramatically amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Widerøe’s commercial flights to destinations in remote Norway have been a struggling business for several years and the coronavirus pandemic has caused a sharp drop in demand for tickets, making the business even worse, the airliner tells.
Since the outbreak hit Norway in March, Widerøe’s revenues for sale of tickets has dropped by 650 million kroner (€61 million). By October 31, the government’s tax reliefs aimed at helping the airline industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic ends, and Widerøe says in a press release there are no other options than cutting flights on routes where demand is low.
For the northern regions of Norway, this means cutting one daily flight from Tromsø to Kirkenes, one daily flight Tromsø to Vadsø and the direct flight from Skagen (Stokmarknes) to Tromsø.
Also other routes on the southwest coast of Norway will be affected.
