Wizz Air seeks bigger share of Norwegian skies

Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air is expanding in Norway to take advantage of a shift towards domestic tourism caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline’s CE said on Tuesday. The step could add to the troubles of Norwegian Air and rival SAS, which have dominated domestic Norwegian air travel. Norwegian Air has said a cash crisis could force it to halt operations early next year, while Swedish-Danish SAS has secured a package to help it survive a collapse in demand. “We flew to 48 Norwegian destinations even before the pandemic,” Wizz Air CEO Jozsef Varadi said. “International flights are increasingly exposed to government restrictions... domestic markets have become more important in the short term.” He said Wizz Air was also increasing its flights in Italy to take advantage of tourism there. In Norway, domestic travel is still limited. Avinor, a Norwegian airport operator said passenger numbers were down more than 70% versus the same time in 2019. Wizz Air already launched new Norwegian routes in October. Varadi said cash had become the main performance indicator during the pandemic and Wizz Air was working to come out of the coronavirus crisis with maximum liquidity.<br/>