Hurtigruten’s senior vice president of commercial revealed the news as he discussed new areas that Hurtigruten was considering adding to its itineraries.

Arild Kaale told TTG: “We’re looking at plans to pick up customers from the British Isles – it is something that we are discussing.

“We’re trying to pick up customers where they are – we also have a lot of Chinese passengers who want to be picked up in Shanghai, so we are exploring that too.”

Meanwhile the line’s UK managing director Magnus Zetterberg told TTG that Hurtigruten would increase the number of regional flights offered in the UK by 50% from Q1 in 2017.  

He refused to disclose which airports would benefit from the boost, admitting that some discussions were still ongoing. However he did insist that the increase in services would be “widespread”.

The news comes as the line’s continues to push its focus onto warmer water destinations, after launching its Amazon programme in December, which it will be sailing to in 2017.

Speaking on the weekend at a global trade event, which saw around 300 travel agents invited onto its newly refurbished ship Kong Harald, Kaale said:  “Warmer waters is something that we are very keen to look at; we’re really excited about it.

“We’d like to see more ships in Asia. We have a lot of clients in Asia, and I believe it is somewhere we would definitely like to look at. The north-west passage is also somewhere that we feel is in line with our product.”

The line is most likely to set focus on South America in the immediate future though.

Hurtigruten’s chief executive Daniel Skjeldam also insisted: “We won’t be going to the Med or any large [current cruise ship] volume areas.”

Despite the new focus, bosses were keen to stress the line’s commitment to Norway and the polar regions. Later this year it will launch Midnatsol, which will be its second ship serving the Antarctic.

It is also exploring the possibility of adding the North-west passage to its itineraries, a sailing which Kaale said was “very much in line with our product”.

Skjeldam also insisted to delegates: “We will not reduce our position on the Norwegian coast – rather, it will be the opposite.

“In five years time I would imagine that we would have more [ships] on the Norwegian coast.”