The airline Widerøe has decided to close 25 routes in its short-haul network. In total, this means 4,000 flights per year will disappear, most of them from traffic in Northern Norway.

The cuts, which correspond to 15 percent or just over one in eight of Norwegian domestic flights, will take effect on May 4.

”"We have no choice," writes Widerøe CEO Stein Nilsen in a comment in which he regrets that the transport offer with the cuts will be inadequate in a long line of municipalities.

He justifies the measure by saying that the flights are no longer economically justifiable after years of fee and VAT increases and an increasingly weaker Norwegian krone.

Opposition politicians are critical and Norway's Transport Minister Knut Arild Hareide says he is concerned about the consequences.

”We will monitor this closely going forward and evaluate how best to manage the negative consequences,” he says.

One of the worst-hit airports will be Evenes, located between Harstad and Narvik. Flights to Bodø and Andenes will be suspended.

Widerøe is also canceling flights between Oslo and airports in Tromsø, Bodø and Florø for parts of the year.

Source: TT