Norway’s domestic, short-haul airline Widerøe has graduated from propeller planes to its first new jets, ordering three Embraer E190 E2 aircraft with an option for 12 more.
The new jets can carry 114 passengers and are a step up from the Bombardier Dash 8 turboprop aircraft now in Widerøe’s fleet. The Dash 8s will still be used on Widerøe flights to destinations with short runways, including several airports in Northern and Western Norway.
Widerøe’s new “Regional Jets” will allow the airline to better compete against Norwegian Air and SAS and develop new routes. Widerøe chief executive Stein Nilsen said the project is in cooperation with its pilots’ and cabin crews’ unions and expected to make Widerøe more efficient and flexible.
Newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN) reported that the first new jets are due for delivery in the first half of 2018 and likely to be based in Bergen and at Torp Airport in Sandefjord.
newsinenglish.no staff
