Widerøe Pilot Requirements 2026: Hours, License and Hiring Process

Widerøe, Norway’s regional airline and part of the Norwegian group since January 2024, connects rural Norway, along a harsh coastline, with several cities across Europe, on Dash 8 turboprops and Embraer E190-E2 jets. Its pilot page takes open applications into a candidate database, reviewed weekly, rather than dated vacancies, and no dated vacancy surfaced at the last check, on 31 October 2026, so the First Officer seat is a talent pool. The page sets one hard gate: you must understand Norwegian and speak one of the Scandinavian languages. It names no license, medical or hours minimum; it considers only applications with attachments proving the qualifications Widerøe requires, and looks for progression, especially in low-hour pilots. Every new pilot starts as First Officer, whatever their experience, with about 10 years to command. Widerøe assigns each pilot a permanent base, Tromsø, Bodø, Bergen, Oslo or Sandefjord, and an aircraft type by its needs.

Is Widerøe hiring pilots now?

Talent pool at the last check on 31 October 2026 — First Officer seat: Talent pool; Captain seat: Not offered. Open applications only: Widerøe’s pilot page takes applications into its candidate database for future openings; Norwegian and a Scandinavian language required; everyone starts as First Officer, about 10 years to command

Requirements, as published

Reading the requirements line by line

Widerøe’s pilot page, read in GitHub runner downloads of 29 and 31 October 2026, says little about requirements, so the table above is short on purpose: what it does not list, we do not state as fact. Below is what the page says, what Widerøe’s permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge, the Norwegian recruitment site, says, and the rules underneath. Check each point with Widerøe’s recruitment team before you apply.

• A Scandinavian language. The one condition the page states: you have to understand Norwegian and speak one of the Scandinavian languages to be considered for a pilot position. Widerøe’s permanent posting on Jobbnorge asks for fluency in at least one Scandinavian language, Norwegian, Danish or Swedish, at Berlitz level 4 to 5 (level 4 in its English-language line); we could not confirm the level on the pilot page, which gives none.
• Attachments prove the rest. The page considers only applications with attachments confirming the qualifications and documents Widerøe requires, without listing them. Widerøe’s permanent posting on Jobbnorge (ID 183777, deadline “Ongoing” when a runner downloaded it on 31 October 2026), which takes open applications into Widerøe’s candidate database, lists as absolute requirements an EASA license issued in a Scandinavian country, a Class 1 medical, a valid multi-engine instrument rating, passed ATPL theory exams, an upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) course or an earlier type rating, MCC and PBN, and says applications with missing attachments are not assessed. We could not confirm that the pilot page’s application link leads to that posting, so read its terms as a guide to the attachments, not as confirmed requirements.
• The rules underneath. Norway applies the EASA rules by agreement (the Library’s EASA regulatory framework), so whatever Widerøe asks, a commercial license needs a Class 1 medical, first issued at an aero-medical center (the Library’s medical certification), and the full ATPL follows at 1,500 hours of flight time in airplanes, 500 of them in multi-pilot operations, with 200 hours cross-country, 75 of instrument time and 100 at night (FCL.510.A).
• No hours minimum, but progression. The page publishes no minimum hours. It says Widerøe looks for progression, which matters most for pilots with low flight hours, and that a pilot who shows progression and updates the application regularly becomes more relevant.
• No outside Captains. All newly hired pilots start as First Officers, regardless of prior experience, and it currently takes about 10 years from joining to a possible promotion to Captain, through a promotion board. A pilot with command time elsewhere joins in the right seat.
• Base and type are Widerøe’s call. Pilots are assigned a permanent base and aircraft type by the company’s needs. Who pays for the type training, and whether a bond applies, is not published.

Entry routes

• First Officer through an open application to Widerøe’s candidate database, reviewed weekly — base and aircraft type assigned by the company’s needs (Widerøe’s pilot page)
• Partner schools: Widerøe may select pilots during their training at OSM Aviation Academy and at Pilot Flight Academy, with a view to employment after graduation (the schools’ announcements of March 2025, in aviation press; not on Widerøe’s pilot page)
• Direct entry Captain — not offered: every new pilot starts as First Officer, regardless of prior experience, and promotion to Captain, through a promotion board, takes about 10 years (Widerøe’s pilot page)

The partner-school routes

Two flight schools say Widerøe recruits from their students. OSM Aviation Academy announced on 12 March 2025 that Widerøe would be able to select its Airline Ready pilots during their training, for potential career opportunities after graduation, and Pilot Flight Academy, in Norway, announced on 10 March 2025 that Widerøe would select highly qualified commercial pilots during their education, and that the two would continue the Jump Seat Project the academy announced in May 2024, in which students take part in the whole process with Widerøe crews, from the briefing to disembarking and preparing for the next flight (afm.aero, 10 and 12 March 2025). Neither announcement gives selection criteria or numbers, and Widerøe’s own pilot page does not mention the schools, so treat them as a route to Widerøe’s attention rather than to a seat, and apply to the candidate database as well.

Widerøe beside Norwegian and other European peers

Widerøe beside the airlines it is compared with on our jobs board, as recorded at each airline’s last check:

Read each row with its date. Norwegian, Widerøe’s owner since January 2024 (Norwegian’s regulatory release, as search results showed it), flies Boeing 737s and recruits for itself: at its own last check its two First Officer vacancies had closed on 31 August 2026, with 500 hours on the 737 for type-rated pilots and 1,500 hours for the others (30 October 2026). Of the other Scandinavian airlines on the board, SAS was recruiting First Officers with 400 hours on CS-25 or FAR-25 airplanes (12 October 2026). Further south, Air France was recruiting direct-entry First Officers with no total-hours minimum, but asked for fluent French and the nationality of an EEA state or Switzerland (21 October 2026); KLM was recruiting pilots who already held a multi-pilot type rating, and asked for Dutch (13 October 2026); and easyJet was recruiting Captains while its First Officer seat was not recruiting (12 October 2026).

Selection process

1. Open application to Widerøe’s candidate database, with attachments confirming the required qualifications and documents; the database is reviewed weekly (Widerøe’s pilot page)
2. Widerøe contacts the applicants it considers for a pilot intake and offers them a place at its admission tests (Widerøe’s permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge, read on 31 October 2026)
3. The stages: an admission test (“opptaksprøve”), a personality analysis and an interview; the posting does not say what the test covers (the same posting)
4. Employment offered as vacancies arise to those who pass; new hires in flight operations are tested for drugs, a negative result is a condition of employment, and a full police certificate is required on hiring (the same posting)

Bases and fleet

Bases: Bodø · Tromsø · Bergen · Oslo · Sandefjord Torp

Fleet: Dash 8-100 / -200 / -300 / -400: 14 of the Dash 8-100s are in De Havilland Canada’s life-extension program, ESP+, which raises the type’s life from 120,000 to 160,000 flight cycles (De Havilland Canada, 20 July 2026) · Embraer E190-E2: three jets (the Norwegian group’s figures, as search results showed them)

How to prepare

Start with the paperwork, because Widerøe’s pilot page says it considers only applications whose attachments confirm the qualifications and documents it requires: have your license with its ratings, your medical certificate, your logbook totals and your training and language certificates scanned before you apply, and update the application whenever they change, since the database is reviewed weekly and progression is what Widerøe looks for. Widerøe’s permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge lists the uploads it expects: your ATPL theory results with the percentage scores, the MCC certificate, medical, license, passport, the last two pages of your logbook, your upper-secondary school diploma or equivalent, any references and, if you hold no earlier type rating, your UPRT certificate with the approval of the school that ran the course. If your hours are low, the page’s own suggestion is to build them without high cost, for example as a flight instructor (the Library’s flight instructors and examiners sets out the ratings). Widerøe assigns the type, and most of its fleet is Dash 8 turboprops, so revise the turboprop and winter subjects of the ATPL theory: propellers and propeller control, airframe icing and de-icing boots and fluid ice protection, cold-weather operations and wet and contaminated runways. v1prep has no Dash 8 bank: the ATPL theory banks below cover that ground, and the E-Jet bank covers the E190-E2. The same posting describes an admission test, a personality analysis and an interview, without saying what the test covers; the Library’s pilot aptitude tests and personality and motivation are the place to start. And put the language first: a pilot who does not yet understand Norwegian and speak a Scandinavian language is not considered, however strong the rest of the application.

Widerøe has no interview guide on v1prep yet, so for the selection read the complete airline pilot interview guide and the Library’s pilot CV and application. The ten years to command are explained in the Library’s command upgrade and airline pilot ranks, seniority and scheduling. Widerøe’s fleet is on our pages of turboprop pilot jobs and Embraer pilot jobs, its parent group on Norwegian pilot requirements, the region’s other airlines on pilot jobs in Europe, and the route as a whole on how to become an airline pilot in Europe. Check Widerøe’s entry on the jobs board for the latest status.

What we could not confirm

• Whether Widerøe has a dated First Officer vacancy: its pilot page, as GitHub runners downloaded it on 28, 29 and 31 October 2026, shows none, and search results on 31 October 2026 surfaced none
• The license and medical Widerøe requires: its pilot page does not list them. Widerøe’s permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge (ID 183777, deadline “Ongoing” when a GitHub runner downloaded it on 31 October 2026) asked for an EASA license issued in a Scandinavian country, a Class 1 medical, a valid multi-engine instrument rating, passed ATPL theory exams, a UPRT course or an earlier type rating, MCC and PBN; the download does not show whether the pilot page’s application link leads to that posting, so we could not confirm that these are the terms of the open application
• The language level: the same posting asks for fluency in at least one Scandinavian language at Berlitz level 4 to 5 (level 4 in its English-language line, which names Norwegian, Danish and Swedish); the pilot page says only that you must understand Norwegian and speak one of the Scandinavian languages
• Whether a pilot without the right to work in Norway can be hired: neither the pilot page nor the Jobbnorge posting names a nationality or work-permit condition, and the EEA condition this record gave from search results of 21 September 2026 could not be confirmed
• Who pays for the type training, and whether a bond applies: not published
• Whether Kirkenes is still a pilot base: Widerøe’s pilot page of 31 October 2026 and its Jobbnorge posting list only Tromsø, Bodø, Bergen, Oslo and Sandefjord
• The terms of the partner-school routes with OSM Aviation Academy and Pilot Flight Academy (selection criteria, numbers): the schools’ announcements give none, and Widerøe’s pilot page does not mention them

These points are not published clearly by the airline. Treat them as leads, not facts, and confirm them on the careers page: careers page.

Common questions

Is Widerøe hiring pilots? Widerøe takes open applications rather than dated vacancies. Its pilot page, read in a download of 31 October 2026, invites open applications to a candidate database for future openings, reviewed weekly, and its permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge showed the deadline “Ongoing” that day; no dated First Officer vacancy surfaced in search results on 31 October 2026. Widerøe considers only applications with attachments confirming the qualifications and documents it requires.

What license and medical does Widerøe require? Widerøe’s pilot page does not list them: it asks for attachments confirming the qualifications it requires. Widerøe’s permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge, read on 31 October 2026, asks for an EASA license issued in a Scandinavian country, a Class 1 medical, a valid multi-engine instrument rating, passed ATPL theory exams, a UPRT course or an earlier type rating, MCC and PBN; we could not confirm that the pilot page’s application link leads to that posting. Under the EASA rules, which Norway applies, a commercial license needs a Class 1 medical.

Do you need to speak Norwegian to fly for Widerøe? Yes. Widerøe’s pilot page says you have to understand Norwegian and speak one of the Scandinavian languages to be considered for a pilot position. Its permanent pilot posting on Jobbnorge asks for fluency in at least one Scandinavian language, Norwegian, Danish or Swedish, at Berlitz level 4 to 5, a level we could not confirm on the pilot page, which gives none.

How many flight hours do you need for Widerøe? Widerøe publishes no minimum. Its pilot page says it looks for progression, especially in pilots with low flight hours, and recommends that newly qualified pilots build hours without high cost, for example as flight instructors. Keep your application updated: the candidate database is reviewed weekly.

Can you join Widerøe as a Captain? No. All newly hired pilots start as First Officers, regardless of prior experience, and it currently takes about 10 years to a possible promotion to Captain, through a promotion board (Widerøe’s pilot page, read in a download of 31 October 2026). Pilots are assigned a permanent base, Tromsø, Bodø, Bergen, Oslo or Sandefjord, and an aircraft type by the company’s needs.