Norwegian Air Shuttle aims to expand its fleet to 50 aircraft in 2021 and an additional 70 aircraft by 2022. These new additions will help Norwegian Air Shuttle increase domestic flights and short-haul routes throughout Europe.
Norwegian Air Shuttle has done an earning report for the first quarter. The airline decided to deploy a capacity to the market to meet customers’ demands. However, they aim to rebound to the level of 2019 before 2023 or 2024.
Norwegian Air Shuttle is a low-cost carrier and Norway’s largest airline. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe and the largest airline in Scandinavia. It offers a high frequency of domestic flights within Scandinavia and Finland. Norwegian also operates to the busiest destinations such as London and holiday destinations in the Mediterranean and Canary Islands.
Travel restrictions
As the world faces travel restrictions amid Covid 19, so is the Norwegian airline. Due to these restrictions, the airline was not able to fly as before. After the restrictions are eased, the airline decided to serve its core source markets.
Norwegian aims to serve Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. It will balance between Nordic and domestic routes. Similarly, Norwegian will offer flights to “key cities and popular leisure destinations” across Europe.
Restructuring of airline
Norwegian Air Shuttle is undergoing restructuring programs in Ireland and Norway. In Ireland’s restructuring plan, the airline will plan to come out of bankruptcy protection. According to the plan, the airline will cut its fleet back to 50 planes and stop operating long-haul flights. Also, the airline has to cut 2000 jobs in this process.
The restructuring program in Norway aims to reduce the high debts of the airline. The airline has to adjust its fleet size and obtain new capital as a result of this restructuring. The airline will not be able to offer long-haul flights. It would rather concentrate on short-haul routes.
The impact on our company as a result of international travel restrictions, that have continued throughout the quarter, are as expected. However, during this difficult period, Norwegian has continued to reach several milestones that will secure our future and ensure that the airline remains a key competitor in the European market.
-CEO, Norwegian AIr, Jacob Schram
Active fleet and future routes
Since December 2020, Norwegian has only operated a fleet of 9 Boeing 737-800s. According to OAG Schedule Analyzer data, the airline is flying 15 routes this week (w/c April 26, 2021), 12 of those from Oslo Gardermoen (OSL).
Norwegian Air operates 34,224 out of 37,200 seats available for domestic flights. The only non-domesric routes this week are OSL-Copenhagen (CPH) and CPH-Aalborg (AAL).
According to OAG information, Norwegian Air will resume its flights to Barcelona (BCN), Belgrade (BEG), Belin (BER), and Malaga (AGP) this week.
Source: RoutesOnline , Featured Picture: Thibaud.S.
