Press release - 21 December 2011 07:00

Norwegian Gives Its Passengers Free In-flight WiFi for Christmas

Norwegian has decided that its in-flight broadband internet will continue to be free of charge. More than half of the fleet will be WiFi equipped by year-end.

“We were overwhelmed by the response from our passengers when we launched WiFi on board almost a year ago. Throughout 2011 we have seen that the combination of new aircraft and free WiFi are win-win to both our passengers and the company in terms of higher customer satisfaction. That’s why we will continue to offer all our passengers free internet on board. We hope our customers will appreciate this Christmas present from Norwegian,” said CEO Bjørn Kjos at Norwegian.

80 percent of the passengers online simultaneously

Norwegian's in-flight WiFi was very well received when it launched on February 9 and it has continued to receive great feedback. On some flights more than 80 percent of the passengers were surfing simultaneously.

Because of the positive response Norwegian decided to increase the installation speed considerably so that more than half of the fleet will be connected by year-end and more than 80 percent of the fleet by spring 2012.

Call on board

As Norwegian launched its free WiFi on board, many passengers expressed a desire for the ability to make phone calls from the air. Consequently, Norwegian’s mobile phone company, Call Norwegian, launched a service that makes this possible – efficiently and inexpensively. The service, SkyCall, launched this fall and is an application tailormade to fit the airline’s in-flight connectivity systems.

So far, the SkyCall application has been downloaded 16,000 times from the app store.

Topics

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, commercially branded “Norwegian,” is a public low-cost airline noted on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company is the second largest airline in Scandinavia, and has a route portfolio that stretches across Europe into North Africa and the Middle East. With competitive prices and customer friendly solutions and service, the company has experienced significant growth over the previous years. With more than 13 million passengers in 2010, Norwegian is the 3rd largest low-cost airline in Europe. Norwegian currently operates 61 aircraft on 297 routes to more than 100 destinations and employs approximately 2 500 people.

Contacts

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Press contact Norwegian Press Office press@norwegian.com +47 815 11 816

Marketing/sponsorhip requests: marketing@norwegian.com

Press contact Marketing/sponsorship requests: marketing@norwegian.com

Norwegian.com

The Norwegian group is a leading Nordic aviation company, headquartered at Fornebu outside Oslo, Norway. The company has over 8,200 employees and owns two of the prominent airlines in the Nordics: Norwegian Air Shuttle and Widerøe’s Flyveselskap. Widerøe was acquired by Norwegian in 2024, aiming to facilitate seamless air travel across the two airline’s networks.

Norwegian Air Shuttle, the largest Norwegian airline with around 4,700 employees, operates an extensive route network connecting Nordic countries to key European destinations. In 2023, Norwegian carried over 20 million passengers and maintained a fleet of 87 Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Widerøe’s Flyveselskap, Norway’s oldest airline, is Scandinavia’s largest regional carrier. The airline has more than 3,500 employees. Mainly operating the short-runway airports in rural Norway, Widerøe operates several state contract routes (PSO routes) in addition to its own commercial network. In 2023, the airline had 3.3 million passengers and a fleet of 48 aircraft, including 45 Bombardier Dash 8’s and three Embraer E190-E2's. Widerøe Ground Handling provides ground handling services at 41 Norwegian airports.

The Norwegian group has sustainability as a key priority and has committed to significantly reducing carbon emissions from its operations. Among numerous initiatives, the most noteworthy is the investment in production and use of fossil-free aviation fuel (SAF). Norwegian strives to become the sustainable choice for its passengers, actively contributing to the transformation of the aviation industry.