London and Essex will soon have a new connection to Norway. Norwegian carrier Widerøe, the largest regional airline in Scandinavia, will operate a twice-weekly service to Norway’s second-largest city from next month.
The new route will link London’s Stansted Airport to Bergen, Norway, the gateway to the nation’s famous fjords. The flights will be operated using the carrier’s Embraer E190-E2 jets, which seat 110 passengers, beginning on March 26th. Bergen is a World Heritage Site and European Capital of Culture located in the west of Norway. The city is renowned for its Bryggen harbor district which is one of Europe’s oldest ports. Simon Gorrighan, London Stansted’s Aviation Director, expressed his excitement to welcome the new carrier to the airport:
“We’re delighted to welcome Widerøe to London Stansted, adding yet another new destination to our growing network and giving passengers even more choice when travelling from their local airport.
“This new route makes a beautiful region of Norway more accessible to UK travellers as well as being an important route for business, especially the energy industry in Norway and the East of England.”
Photo: VisitNorway.com
When are the flights?
The carrier will face no direct competition on the route. Flights will depart London Stansted Airport at 18.40 on Fridays for the 1 hour and 50-minute link to Bergen, arriving at 21:30. Sunday flights will depart Stansted at 11:30.
Also from London, Widerøe offers flights from London Heathrow Airport aboard the same aircraft. Oslo-based Norwegian also offers a twice-daily link to Bergen from London Gatwick, utilizing its Boeing 737 fleet. Christian Skaug, Widerøe’s Commercial Director, expressed his excitement to add Stansted to the network:
“We are very pleased to be flying to London Stansted from 26th March and being able to maintain London as part of our route map. London Stansted has smooth and convenient connections to the City of London, which we know our customers will appreciate.”
Photo: Øyvind Heen | Fjords.com
Widerøe’s international expansion
The carrier is by far Norway’s largest regional operator and flies an extensive domestic network. The carrier handled over 269,000 passengers in January 2023, up 25% compared to January 2022. The airline is investing heavily in its international network this year.
Elsewhere in the United Kingdom, the airline will return to Liverpool from Bergen this summer. The route was initially serviced from 2018 to 2020 and is popular with Norwegian football fans looking to attend Everton, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Manchester United matches. The airline has long served the Scottish airport of Aberdeen from Bergen.
The airline is further expanding its European offerings this summer. Widerøe will launch Bergen to Hamburg Airport on March 30, three weekly flights before adding an additional weekly rotation in May. Also at the end of March, the carrier will increase its service to Billund, Denmark, from twice a week to daily.
The following month, Widerøe will add Munich International Airport to its growing network with a twice-weekly service, alongside flights to Dublin. The Nordic Region is an important market for tourism to Ireland, which welcomed 256,000 visitors from Scandinavia in 2019.
Photo: Widerøe
Not the only addition to Stansted this year
Several other new flights will be available from London Stansted this summer. Ryanair is increasing its list of destinations from the airport, at which it is a main operator. New additions for the summer season include domestic links to Belfast in Northern Ireland, the Scottish city of Edinburgh, and Cornwall Newquay Airport which serves as the base of UK space operations. Further afield the ULCC will fly to Asturias, Spain; Klagenfurt, Germany; and Leipzig, Austria.
Elsewhere, Emirates is launching a second daily service to Dubai on May 1st and Jet2 will add flights to Rome and Athens this summer.
