Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) Q1 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• EBIT loss narrowed to NOK 220 million, a significant year-over-year improvement, with operating margin at -3% and strong traffic growth; group EBT for Q1 2026 was negative NOK 459 million, improved from negative NOK 756 million.

• Record Q1 load factor at 87.6%, with 5.2 million passengers, up 2% despite a 6% capacity reduction; Widerøe contributed NOK 1.9 billion in revenue and NOK 38 million in EBIT.

• Liquidity increased to NOK 14.2 billion, and net interest-bearing debt reduced to NOK 4.4 billion.

• Program X delivered NOK 196 million in Q1, with recurring profit improvement target raised to NOK 1.25 billion annually by end-2026.

• Passenger numbers rose to 5.2 million, with both Norwegian and Widerøe segments showing increased demand and higher load factors.

Financial highlights

• Revenues up 6% to NOK 6.9 billion, with Norwegian up 6% and Widerøe contributing NOK 1.8–1.9 billion.

• Operating result (EBIT) negative NOK 220 million, a NOK 400 million improvement year-over-year, excluding non-recurring items.

• Net loss improved to NOK 362 million from NOK 757 million year-over-year.

• Net interest-bearing debt reduced to NOK 4.4 billion; gross cash position increased to NOK 14.2 billion.

• Equity ratio increased to 19.1%, up from 15.7% year-over-year.

Outlook and guidance

• Capacity (ASK) expected to grow by 3% for FY 2026, with Q2 and Q3 growth at 5%; Widerøe expects 4% ASK growth for 2026.

• Bookings and yield ahead of last year for most months; over 300,000 more tickets sold year-over-year.

• Unit cost excluding fuel projected to increase by a low single-digit percentage versus prior year.

• Ongoing monitoring of fuel prices and hedging strategy, with 45% of fuel hedged for the year.

• Profitability initiatives under Program X are on track to deliver recurring profit improvements exceeding NOK 1.25 billion by end-2026.