The airline Widerøe is cutting 15 per cent of its commercial flights in their short-haul network. A total of 4,000 departures will be cut per year.
CEO Stein Nilsen of Widerøe says that the company is in a desperate situation, and that the cuts are absolutely necessary.
“We know that the result of these cuts will be a transport standard in a number of district municipalities that are not close to meeting travel needs. Still, we have no choice,” he says in a press release.
The reasons for the cuts are increased taxes over several years, a sharp weakening of the Norwegian krone and that the general market development in Norway has posed major challenges for profitability, the company says,
The changes will take effect on May 4th. Evenes is hit particularly hard. There Widerøe is closing the routes to Bodø and Andenes. In addition, several departures from Tromsø, Bodø, Florø will be closed and direct routes from Oslo will be closed during parts of the year.
“We have had a dialogue with the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and our recommendation is that several of these route areas be included as tenders,” says Nilsen.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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