Norwegian and Widerøe signed a letter of intent today that will see the two airlines closely cooperate in a number of areas in the future. This means, among other initiatives, the two companies will cooperate on tickets sales, enabling passengers to seamlessly travel the entire route network of both airlines under a interline agreement.

The objectives of the agreement will provide a better service to passengers and create synergies and operational efficiencies. Norway is an extremely important market for both companies. Widerøe flies throughout the regional network in Norway while Norwegian is a major player in the main route network. A large proportion of passengers in Norway depend on both Norwegian and Widerøe to reach their destination.

Norwegian’s CEO, Geir Karlsen said: ‘I am very pleased with the agreement we have entered into with Widerøe today. Our goal for this collaboration is to benefit both companies’ passengers and our employees. In many ways, this is an historic agreement bringing two Norwegian airlines together. A lot of detail is still being worked on but it’s clear from the past months’ discussions with Widerøe that there are many areas we both have a common interest to collaborate on’.

Widerøe’s CEO, Stein Nilsen said: ‘This is a day of joy for both Widerøe and our passengers who depend heavily on our flights to work and live in Norway. This agreement will allow customers of Norwegian and Widerøe to combine their flights with both airlines at home and abroad. The combination of Widerøe’s network along the coast and in northern Norway and Norwegian’s large European route network will create many new travel opportunities for our common customers. This new collaboration has been requested by our passengers for many years, so it is brilliant to share this news now. We still have a way to go before the agreement is final, but we work well together and have a common goal that this should be implemented as quickly as possible’.