From June 14, Wizz Air (W6) will stop all domestic flights from Norway. The announcement was made by Andras Rado, Wizz Air's communications director. Officially, the decision would have been based on financial and commercial evaluations, but in reality the problem is much more complex. The Norwegian authorities have (indirectly) urged the public not to fly with this company simply because Wizz Air does not accept the unionization of employees in Norway.
Wizz Air has been developing in Norway since November 2020 and since then problems have started with local unions and regional and state authorities. As a result, Wizz Air became less popular with locals, which led to a drop in sales. Thus, Wizz Air will move all transport capacity allocated to Norway to other markets.
Wizz Air will continue to fly between Romania and Norway
Wizz Air hopes to increase the number of passengers transported from / to Norway and on domestic routes, expecting more than 6 million in 2023. It meant a tripling of air traffic compared to the two million people transported in 2019. But Wizz Air's count did not materialize.
Wizz Air pointed out that the last months of operation have shown that it is not financially profitable to fly to Norway. They also blamed the direct competitors. He also alleges that the other airlines operating in Norway have received financial assistance from the authorities.
Rado noted that Wizz Air (W6) will retain its main operational bases in Norway and will continue to operate a number of international flights to / from Norway. From Romania, Wizz Air will continue to fly from Bucharest to Bergen (from October 31) and Oslo.
Avinor, the company that manages most of Norway's airports, said Norwegian Air (DY), SAS (SK) and the new Flyr company will provide sufficient transportation capacity after the withdrawal of Wizz Air, with no problems on domestic routes.