A EUROPEAN airline has dropped flights from a northern UK airport after removing all routes from its website.
Widerøe appears to have ceased operating from Liverpool John Lennon Airport after little more than 12 months of service.
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The Norwegian airline operated flights between Merseyside and the southwestern city of Bergen on a twice-weekly basis after being reinstated in March 2023.
The route had been initially cancelled during the Covid-19 pandemic but was brought back 15 months ago.
Scandinavia’s largest regional airline became the third new airline to commence operations from Liverpool since the lifting of Covid travel restrictions and was a big hit with Norwegian football fans.
The service was primarily popular with Norwegians heading to the North West to watch live Premier League football.
But with flights to and from Liverpool no longer available on its website, it appears Wideroe has ceased operations with John Lennon Airport.
LJLA’s aviation development director, Paul Winfield, confirmed the end of Wideroe’s partnership in Merseyside by revealing that a new link with Norway is in the works.
Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, he said: “Widerøe’s Liverpool-Bergen service has not operated on a scheduled basis since March 2020.
“Since resuming post-COVID, the route has run in line with Liverpool FC home fixtures and in four years has delivered 3,448 passengers.
“Norway remains a market that we are keen on developing from Liverpool, and we are in talks with other operators about establishing a new link with the country.”
Winfield had previously said the twice weekly service provided passengers from across the North West with a great way to visit the city of Bergen, “as well as access to the Fjords and the popular cruise market from there”.
Christian Skaug, commercial director for Widerøe, backed that up by saying the route was “tailor made” for excellent onwards connections into the famous Norwegian Fjords.
It comes after Liverpool John Lennon Airport announced it would launch flights to a much-loved beach destination.
Holidaymakers in Liverpool will be able to fly to Antalya in Turkey when the new route launches next year.
While easyJet and Jet2 already operate existing routes between LJLA and Antalya, Liverpudlians will be given another option when SunExpress launches flights from summer 2025.
Elsewhere, easyJet is set to operate a brand-new route between London Gatwick and a newly-revamped airport in Italy.
The airline will fly twice weekly from London Gatwick to Pontecagnano (Salerno) Airport, which is currently undergoing a huge £400million renovation.
Who is Widerøe?
By Tom Malley
Wideroe is a Norwegian airline serving over 50 domestic and international destinations.
Founded in 1934, it is considered Scandinavia’s largest regional airline.
Wideroe had been operating services to and from Liverpool John Lennon Airport for a number of years, with a minor break during the coronavirus pandemic.
Operating on a twice-weekly basis, it was primarily designed to ferry Norwegian fans to and from the city for Liverpool home fixtures.
Wideroe has hubs in seven airports in Norway, including Oslo Airport, Tromso Airport and Bodo Airport.
From Bergen, some of the destinations you can fly to include Spain, Belgium, Italy, Sweden and Germany.
Other airports offer different services both domestically and internationally.
Flights also operate to and from Aberdeen in Scotland and Dublin in Ireland.
