During a board meeting on 20 December it was decided that Norwegian FlyViking would suspend its operations on 12 January 2018. The airline only started operations on 27 March 2017 (Summer 2017) but faces financial difficulties and fierce competition by other regional airlines like Widerøe.
Only nine months ago FlyViking started flying between Tromsø, Hammerfest and Bodø. The airline eyed an expansion after Summer 2017 but due to a late delivery of its third aircraft they were forced to postpone the new destination Svolvaer. A fourth aircraft was scheduled for November, but a “vital function” was missing on the aircraft, making it impossible to use as a back-up aircraft nor for further expansion.
The airline is a subsidiary of Viking Air Norway AS, which is owned by different individual companies, a total of 134 million NOK (€13,6M) was invested into the company.
“We are sorry for the inconvenience this will cause for customers who have purchased tickets with the company after January 12th. All customers are welcome to contact the company so that they can be reimbursed their purchases under terms of sale and passenger rights, “says Managing Director Heine Richardsen.
Featured image © Jeff Dickinson