Widerøe: Norway's Oldest Airline and the Essential Service of the West Coast

History and positioning

Ninety years of history have built an almost institutional role around Widerøe: many of its routes are public service obligation links, subsidized by the Norwegian state because there is no reasonable transport alternative for the isolated coastal communities. Joining the Norwegian group has not changed this mission, as the airline remains separate from the group's low-cost core business.

The fleet

The fleet counts 48 Bombardier Dash 8s alongside three newer Embraer E190-E2s, with over 4.1 million passengers carried in 2025 and a fleet renewal program under way.

Routes and network

Dozens of very short routes connect small airports along the fjords and the west coast, many of them with short runways that only aircraft like the Dash 8 can use, in areas where travel by road would take hours or days longer than a flight of a few minutes.

On board

The cabins remain compact and functional, consistent with journeys that are often under thirty minutes of flying, where onboard service is limited to the essentials.

What passengers say

• For the coastal communities it serves, Widerøe is described as a vital link rather than a choice among alternatives, with few real competitors on the same routes.
• The most frequent criticisms concern the average age of part of the Dash 8 fleet still in service, pending completion of the renewal plan.

Widerøe is the almost obligatory choice for those who need to reach the coastal communities and fjords of western Norway that are not connected by fast roads. It is not designed for anyone seeking long-haul comfort: the very short journeys and small aircraft are the exact opposite of that kind of experience.

If you fly on one of the public service obligation routes, book with extra margin in the winter months: weather conditions on the most exposed coastal runways can cause more frequent cancellations than elsewhere in Norway.