Tag Archives: Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com)

640,000 passengers flew with Norwegian in January

Norwegian Air Shuttle released this statement:

Traffic figures for January show that almost 640,000 passengers flew with Norwegian during the month. This represents a significant increase compared to the same month last year.

Traditionally January is a quieter period for passenger demand, however, figures were also affected by the rapid spread of the omicron virus and associated government-imposed measures and restrictions.

Norwegian had 637,376 passengers in January, compared with 74,224 in January 2021. The load factor was 70 percent. The capacity (ASK) was 1,298 million seat kilometres, while actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 905 million seat kilometres. In January, Norwegian had an average of 45 aircraft in operation, and 99.2 per cent of scheduled flights were operated. Punctuality was 85.9 percent.

Norwegian’s December traffic figures were heavily impacted by COVID-19, down 94%

Norwegian Air Shuttle issued this report:

In December, 129,664 customers flew with Norwegian, a decrease of 94 percent compared to the same period last year. The capacity (ASK) and total passenger traffic (RPK) were both down by 98 percent. The load factor was 52.3 percent, down 31 percentage points.

Jacob Schram, CEO of Norwegian, said: “The pandemic continues to have a negative impact on our business as it has had since March 2020. At the beginning of last year, Norwegian was headed for a positive result in 2020, instead 2020 has been a very challenging year and we now find ourselves fighting for survival. Despite low demand in December, Christmas bookings were positive, and we have succeeded in adapting our operations to the current situation. Our goal is to be a financially strong and competitive airline, with a new financial structure, a rightsized fleet and improved customer offering.”

“The support from our customers, employees and suppliers this past year has been extraordinary. We all wish to travel and meet our friends and loved ones again and at Norwegian our focus continues to be to connect people in a safe and comfortable way. The vaccination is now being rolled out across the world and is good news for both the aviation industry and those who want to travel. We will be ready to meet the competition for customers after the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 has been a tough year, but we will continue to fight and come out of this crisis as a stronger Norwegian,” Schram said.

Norwegian operated nine aircraft on average in December, mainly on domestic routes in Norway. The company operated 95.6 percent of its scheduled flights in December, whereof 88.5 percent departed on time.

Norwegian finalizes recapitalization and secures state aid

Norwegian Air Shuttle has made this announcement:

Norwegian confirms that the restructuring is completed and that the state loan guarantee of in total NOK 3 billion has been approved. The company has now converted NOK 12.7 billion of debt to equity and laid a solid foundation for the future, although the next months will remain challenging.

“I want to thank everyone who has supported the company during this unprecedented crisis that has affected the entire the airline industry: The Government and Parliament; customers; employees: shareholders; leasing companies; creditors; bondholders, the travel industry and other Norwegian supporters. Now that we can access the state loan guarantee, we can continue to transform the company. Through this process, the belief in New Norwegian and the company’s strategy have been confirmed by shareholders, the market, bondholders, leasing companies, other creditors and lenders. Nevertheless, the months ahead will remain challenging and with a high degree of uncertainty for the industry. Norwegian will still need to collaborate closely with a number of creditors as the company currently has limited revenues,” said CEO Jacob Schram.

Since the end of 2018, Norwegian has taken significant actions to restructure its operations and return to profitability. The company was on the path to deliver a positive net profit in 2020, and this summer was set to be the strongest in the company’s history. Instead, the coronavirus outbreak and global travel restrictions has led to a substantial drop in demand.

The Company has seized this time as an opportunity to restructure and develop a new strategy and business plan – New Norwegian – for a strengthened airline to re-emerge when travel restrictions are lifted and demand returns.

“In addition to securing that the company survives this crisis, our goal has been that Norwegian should have a strong position in the future airline industry, with a clear direction and strategy. This will ensure sustainable operations and a structure that will be to the benefit of both shareholders, customers and colleagues,” says Schram.

Norwegian Air Shuttle aircraft photo gallery:

Norwegian to cancel 85 percent of its flights and temporarily layoff approximately 7,300 colleagues

Norwegian Air Shuttle made this announcement:

The COVID-19 situation is escalating by the hour and due to stagnating demand and enforced travel restrictions by authorities worldwide, Norwegian will gradually cancel most of its flights and temporarily lay off a major share of its workforce.

“What our industry is now facing is unprecedented and critical as we are approaching a scenario where most of our airplanes will be temporarily grounded. Several governments in Europe have already said that they will do everything they can to ensure that their airlines can continue to fly when society returns to normalcy. We appreciate that the authorities of Norway have communicated that they will implement all necessary measures to protect aviation in Norway, consequently securing crucial infrastructure and jobs,” said CEO Jacob Schram of Norwegian.

Norwegian has already discontinued a significant number of its flights and the main priority this week is to maintain as many scheduled flights as possible to ensure that customers are able to immediately return to their home destinations. The company will also work closely with the authorities to arrange flights for the benefit of stranded passengers, if necessary. Customers who are directly affected by route changes and cancellations will be contacted by Norwegian via text message or e-mail.

“We understand that this extraordinary situation is stressful for our customers, but I want to assure everyone that we are working around the clock to ensure that everyone is taken care of in the best way possible at this time,” said Schram.

As a result of most of the company’s planes being parked, Norwegian unfortunately has to temporarily lay off more than 7,300 colleagues in total which equates to approximately 90 per cent of its workforce, which includes pilots, cabin crew, maintenance and administrative staff. The layoff procedures vary from country to country and Norwegian’s team is already in constructive dialogues with union and HSE representatives at all its locations across the network.

“It is indeed with a heavy heart we have to temporarily lay off more than 7,300 of our colleagues, but we unfortunately have no choice. However, I want to emphasize that this is temporary, because when the world returns to normalcy my goal is to keep as many of our dedicated colleagues as possible,” said Schram.

Norwegian’s route network changes

-Thousands of flights have already been cancelled.

-As of March 21, the company will primarily fly a reduced scheduled domestically in Norway and between the Nordic capitals. Some European flights will be operated. All intercontinental are cancelled except flights between Scandinavia and Thailand (last flights at end of March).

-All flights that will be operating will be available for sale on Norwegian.com.

-Limited schedule will remain in place until at least April 17 but will be reviewed on a regular basis in line with changes in travel restrictions and demand.

Norwegian will continue to share updates with its customers, the financial market and the media once new measures are implemented.

Detailed reduced schedule – starting March 25

Norway:

Oslo -Bergen/Stavanger/Trondheim: 4 daily departures

Oslo – Ålesund/Bodø/Evenes/Tromsø: 2 daily departures

Oslo -Alta/Kirkenes: 1 daily departure

OSL – Haugesund/Kristiansand/Molde: 1 daily departure

Oslo – Svalbard: 3 weekly depatures

Oslo -Stockholm/Copenhagen: 2 daily departures

Oslo – Helsinki: 4 weekly departures

Stavanger – Bergen: 1 daily departure

Bergen – Trondheim: 1 daily departure

Sweden:

Stockholm – Kiruna: 4 weekly departures

Stockholm – Luleå/Umeå: 2 weekly departures

Stockholm – Helsinki: 2 daily departures

Stockholm – Copenhagen: 2 daily departures

Stockholm – Oslo: 2 daily departures

Finland:

Helsinki – Kittilä: 6 weekly departures

Helsinki – Oulu: 1 daily departure

Helsinki – Rovaniemi: 1 daily departure

Helsinki – Oslo: 4 weekly departures

Denmark:

Copenhagen – Oslo: 2 daily departures

Norwegian Air Shuttle aircraft photo gallery:

Norwegian to cancel approximately 3000 flights and implement temporary layoffs due to the effects of coronavirus

Norwegian Air Shuttle has made this announcement:

Due to the COVID-19 situation, Norwegian is preparing to cancel approximately 3000 flights between mid-March and mid-June. This represents approximately 15 percent of the total capacity for this period. The company has also put several other measures in place, including temporary layoffs of a significant share of its workforce.

The past week, Norwegian has experienced reduced demand on future bookings. The company will cancel about 3000 flights to meet the change in demand. The cancellations represent approximately 15 percent of the total capacity for the period mid-March to mid-June. It will affect the entire network and more details will be shared as soon as they are ready to be implemented. Affected customers will receive information about these changes as soon as they take place.

“This is a critical time for the aviation industry, including us at Norwegian. We encourage the authorities to immediately implement measures to imminently reduce the financial burden on the airlines in order to protect crucial infrastructure and jobs,” said CEO Jacob Schram of Norwegian.

“Unfortunately, cancellations will affect a significant share of our colleagues at Norwegian. We have initiated formal consultations with our unions regarding temporary layoffs for flying crew members as well as employees on the ground and in the offices. We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with unions and employees to work through this difficult situation together,” said Schram.

Norwegian will continue to share updates with its customers, the financial market and the media once new measures are implemented.

Norwegian (UK) aircraft photo gallery:

Norwegian and JetBlue announce intent for partnership

Norwegian and JetBlue have signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for an interline agreement.

The partnership will allow customers to combine low fares in a convenient single booking for connecting flights between Europe and the Americas. Customers will have the possibility to book connecting flights on both airlines’ websites by combining the best of the complementary and expansive networks. The partnership is planned to launch in early Summer 2020 and bookable in early 2020.

The partnership will connect more than 60 U.S. and nearly 40 Caribbean and Latin American cities to Norwegian’s network via New York-JFK, Boston and Fort Lauderdale airports. Norwegian currently offers more than 20 nonstop routes to Europe from these three airports. Customers will also be able to check in their luggage to their final destination.

Flights will be bookable during the first half of 2020 through both airlines’ websites and travel agents using the GDS booking system.

Norwegian offers close to 50 nonstop transatlantic routes from the United States and more than 550 routes overall with access to most European destinations via connections within Norwegian’s network at any time of the year.

Photo: Norwegian.

Norwegian sells two Airbus A320neo aircraft, launches an upgraded WiFi service on European flights

Norwegian has made this announcement:

Arctic Aviation Assets, a subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, has signed an agreement for sale of two Airbus 320neo aircraft.

The aircraft are currently leased out and thus not operated by the Company. Delivery will take place during February 2019. The transaction is expected to increase the Company’s liquidity by $26 million after repayment of debt and have a positive equity effect. Sale proceeds will be used to repay debt and to increase the Company’s liquidity.

The sale is in line with the Company’s strategy of capitalizing on the scale built up over the last few years and the changed focus from growth to profitability. This announcement is an extension of the information provided in the stock exchange announcement “Norwegian strengthens its balance sheet through a fully underwritten rights issue of NOK 3 billion” on 29 January, where sale of aircraft was highlighted as a measure to reduce capital expenditures, in addition to postponement of aircraft deliveries.

In other news, Norwegian is continuing to enhance the passenger experience by commencing the rollout of new and improved inflight WiFi connectivity onboard the airline’s Boeing 737-800 fleet.

Norwegian, named Europe’s Best Low-Cost Airline by SkyTrax, was the first airline to offer passengers free in-flight WiFi on all European flights in 2011. The airline became the first to introduce live television over the skies of Europe in 2015 and in 2018 it took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner equipped with inflight WiFi. Norwegian became the first low-cost airline to offer customers free WiFi for the full duration of intercontinental flights.

Today, Norwegian has launched an upgraded WiFi experience on its Boeing 737-800 aircraft as part of improving the customer experience. Norwegian operates Boeing 737-800 aircraft on intra-European routes, routes connecting Europe with North Africa, Middle East and on flights between the USA and French Caribbean.

Norwegian will gradually roll out the new Premium WiFi service across its Boeing 737-800 fleet and expects to complete the rollout in mid-February 2019.

Three Wi-Fi packages available

Customers travelling on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft with the new Premium Wi-Fi service available will have a selection of three packages – SURF, the free option and two paid options, SOCIAL+SURF and STREAM+SURF, both offering faster speeds.

SURF – Available for free, delivers web browsing, email and text-based messaging

SOCIAL+SURF – Provides faster web browsing, access to email and all social media. Available for €5 per device. (Pricing may be subject to change.)
STREAM+SURF – Offers faster web browsing, email access and social media in addition to the ability to stream TV shows, movies and music content on services such as Netflix, YouTube and Spotify among others. Available for €12 per device. (Pricing may be subject to change.)

Norwegian recently started introducing WiFi to its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Boeing 737 MAX fleet. Here, customers have two choices – Basic free Wi-Fi for the full duration of long-haul flights and a premium high-speed option, fast enough to stream television shows and movies.

Norwegian expects to have the rollout of WiFi completed on 50 percent of its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft by 2020.

Norwegian operates a young fleet of more than 160 aircraft with an average age of 3.7 years.

Top Copyright Photo (all others by the airline): Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) Boeing 737-8JP WL LN-DYP (msn 39047) (Aksel Sandemose, Norwegian author) ARN (Stefan Sjogren). Image: 945580.

Norwegian aircraft slide show:

Norwegian continues Ireland expansion with double-daily Dublin-Stewart, NY flights

Norwegian is continuing its Irish expansion by doubling the number of flights on its popular Dublin-New York area service which will allow for day trips to New York State.

Europe’s third largest low-cost airline, first launched transatlantic flights from Dublin to Stewart International Airport in New York State and Providence, Rhode Island, last summer using brand new Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 aircraft offering up to 189 seats. Each destination serves as a gateway to the metropolitan areas of New York City and Boston, in addition to major tourist attractions in New York State and New England which include Woodbury Common Premium Shopping Outlets, Cape Cod and Nantucket.

From April 26, Norwegian’s daily nonstop flights from Dublin to New York area, will increase to a twice-daily service. The new early morning departure at 8:10 am will offer passengers the earliest flight from Dublin to New York area, which lands at 10:30 am local time.

Norwegian currently operates six routes from Dublin to destinations in the USA and Nordic countries including Providence, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki. Passengers flying Norwegian from Dublin and Shannon can use US Preclearance facilities to clear US immigration and customs before departure. The airline opened a new pilot base at Dublin Airport in 2017 to support the airline’s growing international operations.

Norwegian will also increase the number of transatlantic flights from Shannon. From March 27, the airline will double its frequency to Providence from two to four flights a week and will add a third weekly flight to Stewart, New York.

This month, it was confirmed Stewart International Airport will be renamed New York Stewart International Airport as part of a $37 million airport upgrade to better handle soaring international passenger numbers. Norwegian is the only airline to operate international flights from Stewart International Airport.

Norwegian is the world’s sixth largest low-cost airline, carrying around 30 million passengers per year to more than 150 global destinations. Norwegian has almost 150 aircraft in its fleet with an average age of 3.6 years, making it one of the world’s youngest fleets – the airline also has more than 200 additional new aircraft on order.

Photo: Norwegian.

Norwegian and Spanish pilot union SEPLA sign collective agreement

Norwegian and Spanish pilot union SEPLA have signed a comprehensive collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA will be valid for two years and represents an important step forward in one of the company’s most important markets. Earlier this week, Norwegian also signed a CBA for its long-haul crews based in Italy.

Spain is Norwegian’s second-largest market in passenger volume and the largest in number of staff.

SEPLA’s members will now vote on the agreement.

With 33 aircraft based in Spain this coming summer, and more operating bases than in all the Nordic countries put together, Spain is a key market for Norwegian.

This is the second CBA Norwegian signs in Spain, following the cabin crew collective back in June 2017 Elsewhere in Southern Europe, Norwegian has also signed CBAs with Italy’s short- and long-haul pilots and cabin crew The Italian long-haul CBA was signed earlier this week.

Norwegian keeps eight operating bases in Spain, all of them year-round: Alicante, Barcelona (two bases: one short- and one long-haul), Gran Canaria, Madrid, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, and Tenerife South. The company employs 2,190 people in Spain. Norwegian carried 8.46m passengers in Spain in 2017, a 24 per cent increase on the previous year.

Photo: Norwegian.

Norwegian to start Stockholm – Iceland service, will drop flights to Hartford

Norwegian Air Shuttle (Oslo) will launch twice-weekly service from Stockholm (Arlanda) to Keflavik International Airport, the international airport serving the capital of Reykjavik, Iceland on March 26.

In other news, the carrier is discontinuing the Edinburgh – Hartford/Springfield route on March 25.

Copyright Photo: Norwegian.com (Norwegian Air International) (Ireland) Boeing 737-8 MAX 8 EI-FYF (msn 42829) (Clara Barton, American humanitarian) OSL (Ton Jochems). Image: 939114.

Norwegian (Ireland) aircraft slide show: