While Norwegian operator Widerøe doesn't fly as far afield as flag carrier SAS, it plays a vital role in keeping the country's remote communities connected. Operating various regional aircraft, it flies throughout Norway, as well as serving international routes. The airline also has big plans for its future fleet in terms of sustainability.
Dash 8 dominance
As Simple Flying explored last year, Widerøe has been shaping regional air connectivity in Norway for almost nine decades. Today, it does so using a fleet that, according to data from ch-aviation.com, presently consists of 44 planes. Of these, 40 aircraft are Dash 8 turboprops, with Widerøe flying several different variants.
The most common Dash 8 variant at Widerøe is the 8-100. The airline flies 20 of these 39-seat turboprops, of which 18 are active. These are its oldest planes, clocking in at 28.7 years old on average. It also flies three examples of the 8-Q100, which features noise reduction technology. All of these were listed as being active at the time of writing, and they have an average age of 22.5 years old.
Widerøe's second oldest aircraft type by average age is the 8-Q200, at 25.8 years old. It flies just three of these 39-seaters, which have more powerful engines than the -100 series. It covers the 50-seat market with four 8-Q300s, and, at the larger end of the scale, its 10 8-Q400s seat 78 passengers each. These are relatively young, at 15 years old on average. Just one is presently inactive.
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Regional jets now also play a role
While Widerøe's bread and butter services are turboprop-operated regional hops, it has recently diversified its fleet. Indeed, it now flies three examples of the Embraer E190-E2 jet, with which it serves destinations as far afield as Alicante, Spain. These twinjets are just 4.2 years old on average, making them comfortably the airline's youngest aircraft. Widerøe also previously operated a fourth example.
Widerøe received these next-generation regional jets in 2018. They each seat 110 passengers in a four-abreast, all-economy configuration. Although they serve international destinations like Alicante and London, the E2s can still also be found on Widerøe's domestic hops, particularly on longer routes serving the likes of Tromsø in the far north of the country. Their standard seat pitch is 29 inches
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One leased ATR
Returning to turboprops, the Dash 8 isn't the only family of this type of aircraft that Widerøe currently flies. Indeed, its fleet also presently includes a single example of the French-Italian ATR 72-500. The Norwegian regional carrier is operating this on lease from Nordic Regional Airlines (NoRRA), a carrier owned by Finnair and Danish Air Transport (DAT). It has 70 seats, and first flew in 2010.
Registered as OH-ATM, data from FlightRadar24.com shows that it has been operating a variety of domestic services from Widerøe's Bergen base in recent times. The destinations for these have included Ålesund, Kristiansand, and Stavanger. As recently as last month, the airline was also flying a second leased ATR 72-500 aircraft from NoRRA, which bore the registration OH-ATH.
What do you make of Widerøe's fleet? Have you ever flown with the Norwegian regional carrier? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments!