Norwegian Beats Profit Estimates, Cuts Planned Early-2027 Flying

FORNEBU, NORWAY — Norwegian Group beat third-quarter operating profit estimates as summer demand held up, but the airline has trimmed its planned flying for early 2027 amid higher fuel costs.

The group, which includes Norwegian (DY) and Widerøe (WF), reported operating profit of NOK 2.728bn for the third quarter of 2026, with an operating margin of 21.4%. That compares with the NOK 2.3bn expected by analysts polled by the company, according to Reuters’ reporting on the results.

Winter Capacity Cuts

Norwegian cut its planned first-quarter 2027 capacity by more than 5%. CEO Geir Karlsen told Reuters the reduction reflected higher fuel prices and the suspension of services to Dubai and Tel Aviv.

For the coming winter, Norwegian has reduced monthly capacity by 25–40% compared with October 2026. That seasonal reduction uses a different comparison from annual growth: the airline still expects winter flying to increase marginally from the same period last year.

Norwegian forecasts capacity growth of 2% for 2026 and around 5% in 2027, when its fleet is expected to reach about 100 aircraft. Its fleet stood at 98 at the end of September, separate from Widerøe’s 50 aircraft.

Bookings Remain Encouraging

Norwegian carried 7.64 million passengers during the quarter. Its load factor reached 88.5%, up 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier, as capacity increased 5%.

The airline said booking trends remained encouraging, with more tickets sold than at the same point last year.

Fuel remains a cost pressure even with bookings holding up. Reuters reported that Norwegian had hedged about 30% of its first-quarter 2027 fuel consumption. Norwegian expects its underlying unit cost excluding fuel to remain unchanged in 2026 compared with 2025.