Norwegian Air Shuttle

A white 737 with a red nose taxis to the runway, and a familiar face looks at you from the tail: that is Norwegian. The Scandinavian low-cost airline has a fleet that is technically as uniform as Ryanair’s – and yet almost every aircraft looks different. This page shows you how to identify Norwegian reliably, tell the two operations apart and distinguish the 737-800 from the 737 MAX 8.

Norwegian at a glance

Norwegian Air Shuttle is a Norwegian low-cost airline headquartered in the “Diamanten” office building in Fornebu, right outside Oslo. The company was founded in January 1993 – though not as a budget carrier. It took over regional routes on Norway’s west coast that had previously been flown by the bankrupt Busy Bee on behalf of Braathens. The tools for the job: three leased Fokker 50s.

The big change came in 2002. After SAS took over Braathens, the cooperation ended, and Norwegian launched its own low-cost domestic service from Oslo Gardermoen with used Boeing 737-300s. Since then the 737 has been the backbone of the airline. In 2003 came the stock market listing in Oslo.

In the 2010s, Norwegian grew rapidly, flew the Boeing 787 as far as the US and Asia, and carried over 36 million passengers in 2019. The pandemic ended this phase: after a restructuring under creditor protection, including in Ireland, the airline left long-haul in 2021 and has since flown with a focus on Europe again. In 2024, Norwegian counted around 22.6 million passengers.

Unlike SAS, Norwegian is not part of an alliance. Its most important bases include Oslo, Stockholm Arlanda, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Bergen. Added to these are Riga and bases in Spain such as Alicante, Málaga and Las Palmas, from which Norwegian mainly serves vacation destinations for Scandinavians.

Codes and callsigns

• IATA code DY: appears in the flight number, so on the departure board, ticket and in most schedules.
• ICAO code NOZ: appears in the air traffic control flight plan and on flight trackers when the Norwegian operation is flying.
• Callsign NORDIC: this is how the crew identifies itself on the radio – since March 2022. Before that it was “NORSEMAN.”
• Norwegian Air Sweden: flies under ICAO NSZ with the callsign REDNOSE, a nod to the aircraft’s red nose.

The code DY has nothing to do with the airline’s name – IATA codes are assigned identifiers, not abbreviations. So it’s better to remember the pair DY/NOZ. The article on IATA and ICAO codes explains how IATA and ICAO codes work in general; you will find the difference between flight number and callsign in the guide Callsign and flight number.

One brand, two operations

For passengers, Norwegian is simply Norwegian. Behind the brand, though, are two operations with their own operating licenses – and you can see that on the tail.

Operation	Country	ICAO code	Callsign	Typical registration
Norwegian Air Shuttle AOC	Norway	NOZ	NORDIC	LN-
Norwegian Air Sweden AOC	Sweden	NSZ	REDNOSE	SE-

Both fly in an identical livery and under DY flight numbers. A large share of the 737 MAX 8s fly with the Swedish company – but the distribution is not rigid, and aircraft sometimes switch operations. If you want to collect cleanly, always note the registration. The article on country codes on aircraft explains why an SE- is Swedish and an LN- is Norwegian.

From the long-haul era, you may also remember other names such as Norwegian Air International from Ireland or Norwegian Air UK. These companies are history; if you have old photos with Irish or British registrations in your archive, you now own real keepsakes.

The fleet: only Boeing 737

Norwegian consistently relies on a single aircraft type. By its own account, the airline flew around 95 Boeing 737s in two versions in 2025:

Type	Seats	Role	Spotter note
Boeing 737-800	186–189	Previous workhorse	Gradually being replaced by the MAX – many hero tails sit on 737-800s
Boeing 737 MAX 8	189	Growing part of the fleet	New deliveries until 2031

80 Boeing 737 MAX 8s are on order: 50 aircraft from a 2022 contract and 30 more for which Norwegian exercised its options in September 2025. According to Norwegian, the last delivery is planned for 2031; deliveries are timed to match expiring 737-800 leases. In addition there are leased MAX 8s from leasing companies. For you as a spotter, that means the share of older 737-800s shrinks year after year. If you want certain 737-800s with their heroes in your hangar, you’d better not wait too long.

The manufacturer of both types is Boeing. Airbus aircraft play no role in Norwegian’s operations – if you see an Airbus aircraft connected to Norwegian, it is almost always a charter or partner flight.

737-800 or 737 MAX 8? How to tell them apart

Same livery, same fuselage length, both with a red nose – at first glance the two versions are hard to tell apart. A few details help.

The engines are the most reliable cue: with a telephoto lens, you can still see the MAX’s serrated trailing edges well on approach. You will find more tips on identifying types in Recognizing aircraft types for beginners.

How to recognize Norwegian

The livery is simple yet unmistakable: white fuselage, red nose and a dark blue line – the colors of the Norwegian flag. The real highlight is at the back: many tails bear the portrait of a historical figure, the so-called tail fin hero.

The heroes come from all over Europe and the Americas – explorers, artists, writers, scientists or aviation pioneers. On early 737 MAX 8s, for example, British airline pioneer Freddie Laker and writer Oscar Wilde could be seen. Important to know: a hero is tied to a specific aircraft, not to a type. The name on the tail therefore helps you quickly match a sighting to a registration.

There are also special liveries from time to time, such as a 737-800 in UNICEF design (LN-NGE). Such aircraft are sought-after subjects. The guide to special liveries explains how to find them deliberately.

Widerøe: the group sister with propellers

Since January 2024, Widerøe has belonged to the Norwegian group. Norwegian announced the acquisition of Norway’s largest regional airline in 2023; the competition authority approved it in December 2023. Widerøe continues to fly under its own name and livery – with turboprops of the Dash 8 family and jets of the Embraer E190-E2 type.

For you, that means that in Norway you meet two group brands that look completely different. Norwegian brings the 737 to the big routes, Widerøe the small aircraft to the many short runways in the country. In June 2026, Norwegian also announced it wanted to acquire the parent company of the Scandinavian leisure airline Sunclass – whether and how this affects the fleet is open.

Looking back: the 787 years

Spotters who have been around longer also associate Norwegian with the Boeing 787-9 and the 787-8. From 2013, Norwegian flew the Dreamliner from Scandinavia, London and southern Europe to the US, South America and Asia – at prices that shook up the market.

The pandemic ended this chapter: from March 2020 the Dreamliners sat on the ground, and in January 2021 Norwegian gave up long-haul for good and parted with the aircraft. A Norwegian 787 photo in your archive is therefore a piece of aviation history.

Spotting Norwegian in Germany and Europe

In Germany, Norwegian is not a mass phenomenon like Ryanair or easyJet. The airline mainly connects large airports with Scandinavia and Finland. In summer 2024, for example, Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich were part of the network. Good places for this are the observation deck at BER, the observation deck in Hamburg, the observation deck in Düsseldorf or the visitors’ hill in Munich. Since there are usually only a few rotations a day, it is worth checking the schedule beforehand.

You see a lot of Norwegian in Scandinavia itself. At Oslo Airport, Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Copenhagen Airport and Helsinki Airport, the red noses are part of everyday life – often right next to SAS and Finnair. In Copenhagen, the spotting place Flyvergrillen is a well-known address. In winter, Spain’s vacation airports are also worthwhile, such as Palma de Mallorca, where Norwegian brings Scandinavians to the sun.

With few rotations, being on the right side of the airport counts. So check the runway direction in use before you set out – the guide to runway direction in use at airports helps with that. And in the Scandinavian winter the sun is low: with the sun position guide you plan when the light falls on the tail.

Common mix-ups

• Confusing Norwegian with SAS – both are Scandinavian, but SAS mostly flies Airbus and is part of SkyTeam; Norwegian flies only Boeing 737s and has no alliance.
• Assuming every Norwegian 737 is Norwegian-registered – many aircraft fly for Norwegian Air Sweden with SE- registrations.
• Mistaking the hero for the type designation – the portrait tells you which individual aircraft it is, not whether it is a 737-800 or MAX 8.
• Logging a Widerøe Dash 8 as Norwegian – Widerøe belongs to the group but is a separate airline with its own code.
• Still expecting a Norwegian 787 today – long-haul ended in January 2021.
• Thinking DY is an abbreviation – the code is an assigned identifier unrelated to the name.

Conclusion

Norwegian is proof that a uniform fleet doesn’t have to be boring. Technically the airline flies only Boeing 737-800s and 737 MAX 8s, but visually every tail fin hero turns an aircraft into a collector’s item of its own. If you note the registration, ICAO code and the name on the tail, you have every sighting cleanly in your logbook – and along the way you watch the MAX replace the 737-800 step by step.