Having seen a NOK650 million kroner (USD72.4 million) drop in passenger revenues from March to July, Widerøe (WF, Bodø) has resorted to closing routes and cutting frequencies as the Norwegian government phases out financial assistance to the carrier in the next two months.
Although domestic air travel has started to recover, demand is still weak, Widerøe said in a statement on August 19. As a result, the airline has announced a reduction in service on routes to some of Norway's remote airports. Commercial director Christian Skaug told the broadcaster NRK that it has “no choice.”
“Widerøe is not satisfied with the route offering that the affected destinations will receive as a result of the adjustments that we now have to make,” he said.
Destinations that will see reduced services from October 1 are Florø, Kirkenes, Orsta/Volda (Hovden), Stokmarkness (Skagen), and Vadsø.
Specifically, the direct route between Skagen and Tromsø has been suspended, and passengers will instead have to fly via Bodø. Tromsø-Vadsø, Tromsø-Kirkenes, Oslo Gardermoen-Florø, and Oslo-Hovden all go from 2x daily to 1x daily, while Bergen-Florø is scaled back from 4x to 3x daily.
Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes that Widerøe operates on behalf of the Ministry of Transport are not affected by the changes.
Whereas Widerøe has benefited from tax relief since March as well as “a grant to fly a number of routes for which there was initially no market”, communications director Silje Brandvoll told NRK, “these schemes are now being phased out.”
The state's purchase of air routes expires in September and the tax relief ceases in October, she explained.
“The market failure is quite formidable. We borrow money to finance current account deficits. That is the reality,” she said.
Frequent users of the affected services criticised the scaling back of government assistance to Widerøe. Vadsø mayor Wenche Pedersen said the cuts may affect the speed of coronavirus testing in northern Norway, as tests are sent to Tromsø, adding that the Finnmark region had once again been “downgraded by the state.”
Ola Teigen, mayor of the Vestland municipality of Kinn, commented that the reduced presence at Florø will have negative effects for the country's oil industry as well as for other industries and for leisure travellers.
