– Norwegian cannot be left on the side of the road – E24

On the same day, Norwegian investor Erik G. Braathens announced for the first time a new Norwegian airline. And then low-cost Hungarian player Wizz Air was able to say that they now want to fly domestically in Norway as well. Wizz Air already has several international routes to and from Norwegian airports.

Professor Frode Steen is now warning politicians that they may think the new initiatives will lead to the need to support Norwegian’s demise. Norwegian has announced several times this fall that the airline will not be able to weather the winter without government support.

I can’t get out of Norwegian

– Wizz Air will come in and take some attractive routes. And we know very little about Erik G. Braathen & Co’s investment so far. We cannot count on them at the moment when we talk about the offer of flights in Norway in the future, Steen tells Aftenposten / E24.

– Therefore, authorities cannot wait until winter to see if there will be any of that investment. In the meantime, they can’t leave Norwegian on the road, Steen continues.

However, Espen Henriksen, a financial expert in the Finance Department at BI Norwegian Business School, sees the reasons why the airline may have to manage itself.

– An important argument in favor of emergency state aid to Norwegian has been that the company was considered necessary to ensure competition on Norwegian air routes. Braathen’s new flight commitment and Wizz Air’s domestic routes weaken this argument for using community resources to save Norwegian, he tells Aftenposten / E24.

Wizz Air will start with two aircraft on three Norwegian domestic routes, while Braathen’s investment hopes to have five aircraft on the wings sometime in 2021.

Norwegian has 20 aircraft in operation now, divided into domestic and foreign. In a normal situation, Norwegian flies to 13 different airports in Norway.

FRP in continuous government dialogue

So far, the Progress Party has been way ahead on the track when it comes to signaling support for a rescue operation for Norwegian.

– FRP believes that we, as Norwegian politicians, now have a responsibility to help save Norwegian. It is important to Norway that Norwegian survives, Listhaug said recently in a Frp press release.

When asked by Aftenposten / E24 about Tuesday’s news about new flight deals in Norway, this view changes to Listhaug:

– We will monitor this area closely in the future and hold discussions with the government on how we can ensure competition in aviation in Norway.

She also encourages newcomers:

– It would be great if more airlines were established on domestic routes in Norway. It is the customers who benefit from the competition. FRP is for all competition in aviation that benefits customers, says from Listhaug

– Don’t try to pick winners

Steen at NHH warns politicians not to find favorites among aerial players.

– All experience shows that the authorities are not good at choosing winners. But from there to sitting with your hands in your lap is a long way. Try to find solutions that not only help Norwegian or SAS. But I’m not saying it’s easy, says Steen.

He believes that the government should try to implement a Nordic package. However, the latter is not easy either, as the Danish and Swedish states are the main shareholders of SAS.

– The authorities have a majority responsibility over the airlines. And that applies to all the Nordic states. So, to agree on how to distribute the bill, Steen says.

I think SAS prefers Norwegian

– Will it be better for SAS if Norwegian goes bankrupt and can compete with “New Braathens” and Wizz Air?

– Not absolutely not. I think SAS lives well with NAS. A more aggressive Wizz Air will be worse for SAS.

He believes there is a long way to go for Braathens and his team.

– There is no easy path for those who enter. If it had been in Norwegian, I would have taken it very easy for the moment and focused on the best possible operation. The business model that Braathen launched today is not much different from that of Norwegian in Norway. So even though they are experienced people, they have something to prove first.

The NHH professor, on the other hand, believes that Wizz Air is here to stay. Wizz Air will launch its first domestic routes in November.

– For Wizz Air to enter Norway, SAS and Norwegian cannot escape. But Wizz Air is only interested in good routes in Norway, as well as feeding passengers with its existing European routes.