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Hungarian low-cost giant Wizz Air announced on Tuesday that it will begin flights into the Norwegian domestic market by establishing a base at Oslo airport. Starting November 5, the airline will challenge Norwegian and SAS on the Oslo-Bergen, Oslo-Trondheim and Oslo-Tromsø routes, with prices up to NOK 199.
On Tuesday night, flysmart24 reports that Norwegian is responding to competition by cutting prices for the same routes by 70 percent. Norwegian is said to have cut prices to NOK 209 on the same routes, including the two-hour plus flight between Tromsø and Oslo. Earlier in the day, prices to Trondheim were 770 kroner.
Norwegian press officer Charlotte Holmberg will not explain on the website how long this price level will last.
– One mile
– This is a milestone for Wizz Air and a great day for Norway as well, CEO József Váradi said at the company at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
At the press conference, Várandi emphasized the importance of sustainable finance, and that this is something the company brings to Norway.
– I think in horror of what this could mean for Norwegian. This is not a dream setting for them. It is probably first and foremost Norwegian air passengers who will benefit from this in the form of cheaper tickets. For them, this will be excellent news, flight analyst Hans-Jørgen Elnæs told ABC News on Monday before it became known what Wizz Air’s plans were for Norway. He believed the airline would establish a base in Norway, which turned out to be true.
– Norway is the sirloin
– Norway is the inside steak of domestic markets in Western Europe and Wizz has previously announced that they want to take a closer look at domestic markets in Europe, Elnæs explained.
Váradi confirmed that the company has a strong appetite for the Norwegian market and that the goal is growth.
Wizz Air is the largest airline in Hungary and the second largest low-cost airline in Europe, with a fleet of 133 aircraft. In Norway, the company has routes from Bergen, Bodø, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Molde, Gardermoen, Torp, Stavanger, Tromsø, Trondheim and Ålesund.
New airline
The news comes after it was announced earlier Tuesday that Erik G. Braathen, who has experience as a board member and investor in Norwegian, will launch a new airline.
The new airline plans to take off with five planes and have the first plane in the air during the first half of 2021. The plan is to have about 400 employees by 2022.
