Norwegian Air Shuttle
ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
* Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
* Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including ...
low-cost airline
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
and
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
's largest airline. It is the fourth largest
low-cost carrier in Europe behind
Wizz Air
Wizz Air, legally incorporated as Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. ( hu, Wizz Air Hungary Légiközlekedési Zrt.) is a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier with its head office in Budapest, Hungary. The airline serves many cities across Europe, as well as s ...
,
easyJet
EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
and
Ryanair, the second-largest airline in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
, and the
ninth-largest airline in Europe in terms of passenger numbers. It offers a high-frequency
domestic flight
A domestic flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the departure and the arrival take place in the same country.
Airports serving domestic flights only are known as domestic airports.
Domestic flights are generally c ...
schedule within Scandinavia and Finland, and to business destinations such as London, as well as to holiday destinations in the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
and the
Canary Islands, transporting over 30 million people in 2016. The airline is known for its distinctive
livery of white with a red nose, with portraits of high achievers on the
tail fins of its aircraft.
Norwegian's flights are operated by itself as well as fully owned subsidiaries, including
Norwegian Air Sweden
Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB is a Swedish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. The airline operates Boeing 737 aircraft from bases in European countries outside of Norwa ...
and
Norwegian Air Norway. Each airline holds a unique
air operator's certificate
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...
(AOC) but shares branding,
corporate identity
A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner in which a corporation, firm or business enterprise presents itself to the public (such as customers and investors as well as employees). The corporate identity is typically visualized by ...
, and commercial functions with the rest of the Group.
Until December 2019, Norwegian also owned and operated
Norwegian Air Argentina
Norwegian Air Argentina S.A.U. was an Argentine low-cost airline. The airline operated Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with bases in Buenos Aires and Córdoba. All aircraft were registered in Argentina.
On 4 December 2019, parent company Norwegian Ai ...
, which operated domestic flights within the country.
Until January 2021, Norwegian's former long-haul subsidiaries
Norwegian Air UK and
Norwegian Long Haul operated long-haul flights on behalf of the company, after which both subsidiaries were put into
liquidation when long-haul operations were ended due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
. Until April 2021, Norwegian utilised Ireland-based
Norwegian Air International
Norwegian Air International was an Irish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. It operated flights to destinations in Europe and the Middle East from various European bases, and was head ...
for European-based operations outside of Norway or Sweden.
History
1993–2001: Beginnings as a regional airline
Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) was founded on 22 January 1993 to take over the
regional airline services produced by
Busy Bee
Busy Bee was an airline which operated in Norway between 1966 and 1992. Entirely based around wet lease, it conducted a mix of regional services for larger airlines and the military, as well as corporate, ''ad hoc'' and inclusive tour charters ...
for
Braathens
Braathens ASA, until 1997 Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S and trading as Braathens SAFE, was a Norwegian airline which operated from 1946 until it merged with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) in 2004 to become SAS Braathens. ...
in Western Norway. Busy Bee, founded in 1966, was a subsidiary of Braathens that operated a fleet of
Fokker 50 aircraft on
charter services. This included the network of regional services between cities on the west coast of Norway operated on
wet lease
Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...
for the mother company. Following Busy Bee's bankruptcy in December 1992, NAS took over three leased
Fokker 50 aircraft, and started operating from
Bergen Airport, Flesland
Bergen Airport ( nn, Bergen lufthamn; ), alternatively Bergen Flesland Airport or simply Flesland Airport, is an international airport located at Flesland in the city and municipality of Bergen, Vestland, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the sec ...
to
Haugesund Airport, Karmøy
Haugesund Airport ( no, Haugesund lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving the Haugaland region in Norway. It is located just outside the town of Haugesund on the Helganes peninsula on the island of Karmøy in the municipality of Karmøy, ...
, as well as from
Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...
to
Molde Airport, Årø
Molde Airport ( no, Molde lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving the town of Molde, Norway. It is on the shore of the Moldefjord at Årø, east of town center. The airport's catchment area covers the district of Romsdal.
The airport ...
or
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget
Kristiansund Airport ( no, Kristiansund lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Kristiansund, Norway. It is situated at Kvernberget on the island of Nordlandet and is the sole scheduled airport serving Nordmøre. The airport features a ...
, and onwards to
Trondheim Airport, Værnes
Trondheim Airport ( no, Trondheim lufthavn; ) is an international airport serving Trondheim, a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is located in Værnes, a village in the municipality of Stjørdal in Trøndelag ...
. The company was established and owned by former Busy Bee employees and initially had a workforce of fifty. It was based in Bergen, but later established a technical base in
Stavanger.
From 1 April 1994, the airline also began service from Bergen to
Ålesund Airport, Vigra
Ålesund Airport ( nn, Ålesund lufthamn, ), or alternatively Ålesund Vigra Airport, is an international airport serving the town of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the island of Vigra in Giske Municipality and f ...
. In 1995, the company received its fourth Fokker 50s, and had a revenue of NOK 86.6 million and a profit of NOK 2.9 million. It flew 50 daily services.
By 1999, the company had six Fokker 50s and flew 500,000 passengers on 20,000 flights.
The company had a revenue of NOK 172 million and a profit of NOK 13 million. On 2 June 2000, NAS bought the helicopter operator
Lufttransport
Lufttransport is a Norwegian helicopter and fixed-wing airline that operates primarily air ambulance helicopters and planes for the Norwegian and Swedish governments. In addition the airline offers services including surveillance for the Norwegian ...
from
Helikopter Service
CHC Helikopter Service, previously CHC Norway, CHC Helikopter Service and Helikopter Service is the Norwegian division of CHC Helicopter Corporation. The airline was an independent company until 1999. It operates primarily to oil platforms on ...
.
In 2000, the NAS fleet was expanded to seven Fokker 50s. From 2 January 2001, several Braathens routes were terminated, including the NAS-operated services from Kristiansund to Trondheim and Molde. The route from Bergen to Haugesund, and Bergen–Molde–Trondheim were reduced.
2002–2009: Emergence as a low-cost carrier
![Norwegian MD-83 SE-RDV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Norwegian_MD-83_SE-RDV.jpg)
On 7 January 2002, NAS took over the route from Stavanger to Newcastle, flying two round trips per day; this was the first route on which the airline did not wet lease the aircraft to Braathens, but operated the route in its own right. After Braathens was bought by
Scandinavian Airlines System
Scandinavian Airlines, more commonly known and styled as SAS, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. ''SAS'' is an abbreviation of the company's full name, Scandinavian Airlines System or legally Scandinavian Airlines System Denmark ...
(SAS) in November 2001, all contracts that Norwegian had with Braathens for the routes on the Norwegian west coast were cancelled by SAS, as it wanted its subsidiary
SAS Commuter
SAS Commuter, also branded as Scandinavian Commuter, was a regional airline which operated in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. A sister company of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), it operated various regional services on behalf of the Scandinavian flag ...
to take the routes over. NAS had an 18-month cancellation period in its contract with Braathens; however, this was not respected by SAS - the contracts were terminated without notice. Following the purchase of Braathens by SAS, and the subsequent termination of its contracts, NAS announced in April 2002 that it would start domestic scheduled services as a low-cost carrier on the busiest routes. From 1 September 2002, the airline re-branded as Norwegian.
The airline opened its second hub at
Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport
Warsaw Chopin Airport ( pl, Lotnisko Chopina w Warszawie, ) is an international airport in the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland. It is Poland's busiest airport with 18.9 million passengers in 2019, thus handling approximately 40% of t ...
in Poland, flying to Central European destinations. There were two
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Boeing Renton Factory, Renton Factory in Washington (state), Washington.
Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the Boeing 707, 7 ...
operating from Warsaw.
(The base was closed in 2010.) Norwegian announced on 24 April 2007 that it had bought 100% of the Swedish low-cost airline
FlyNordic from
Finnair
Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...
plc, becoming the largest low-cost airline in Scandinavia. As payment for the shares in FlyNordic, Finnair received a 5% share stake in Norwegian.
On 30 August 2007, Norwegian ordered 42 new
Boeing 737-800
The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...
aircraft, with
options for 42 more, an order worth US$3.1 billion.
[Reuters]
Norwegian Air places $3.1 bln Boeing order
/ref> This order was later increased by six aircraft in November 2009. In July 2010 15 of the options were converted to orders, and in June 2011 15 more options were converted, bringing the total order of new, owned 737-800s to 78 aircraft with 12 remaining options. Additionally, Norwegian introduced leased Boeing 737-800 aircraft into the fleet. The first leased 737-800 arrived at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport ( no, Oslo lufthavn; ), alternatively referred to as Oslo Gardermoen Airport or simply Gardermoen, is the international airport serving Oslo, Norway, the capital and most populous city in the country. A hub for Flyr, Norse Atl ...
, Norway, on 26 January 2008.
In April 2010, Norwegian started flights from Oslo-Gardermoen and Stockholm to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport (; fi, Helsinki-Vantaan lentoasema, sv, Helsingfors-Vanda flygplats), or simply Helsinki Airport, is the main international airport of the city of Helsinki, its surrounding metropolitan area, and the Uusimaa region. Th ...
. During early 2011, Norwegian had three aircraft stationed in Helsinki, and introduced domestic flights to Oulu Airport
Oulu Airport (; fi, Oulun lentoasema, sv, Uleåborgs flygplats) is located in Oulu, Finland, south-west of the city centre. The airport is the second busiest in Finland after Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, as measured by the number of passengers (ca ...
and Rovaniemi Airport
Rovaniemi Airport ( fi, Rovaniemen lentoasema) is the third busiest airport in Finland, located in Rovaniemi, Finland, about north of Rovaniemi city centre. The Arctic Circle crosses the runway closer to its northern end.
History
The airpor ...
on 31 March 2011. In May, flights to nine additional international destinations began.
2010–2017: Rapid expansion, and long-haul operations
In October 2009, Norwegian had announced that it intended to start flights from Oslo to New York City and Bangkok, for which new intercontinental aircraft were required. In 2010, it said it was considering up to 15 intercontinental destinations from Scandinavia, and would also consider services to South America and Africa. On 8 November 2010, Norwegian announced that it had contracted to lease two new Boeing 787 Dreamliner
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
s with delivery in 2012; and that it was negotiating the leasing of additional aircraft.
On 25 January 2012, Norwegian announced the largest orders of aircraft in European history. The orders consisted of 22 Boeing 737-800 and 100 Boeing 737 MAX 8
The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), a division of American company Boeing. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG) and competes with th ...
aircraft with options for another 100 of the latter; and for 100 Airbus A320neos with options for another 50. In late October 2012, the airline announced a new base at London Gatwick
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after Hea ...
from spring 2013 with three Boeing 737-800s to be used on new international routes from London to leisure destinations in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy and Croatia. All announced routes were to be flown in competition with airlines such as British Airways
British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport.
The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers ...
, easyJet
EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airli ...
and Thomson Airways Thomson may refer to:
Names
* Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin
* Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson
Businesses and organizations
* SGS-Thomson M ...
.
In 2016 Norwegian won its first charter contract in the United States, flying three Boeing 737-800s out of Chicago/Rockford International Airport and General Mitchell International Airport
Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is a civil–military airport south of downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States., effective May 21, 2020. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Air ...
in Milwaukee to Mexico and the Caribbean from December 2016 to April 2017 for Apple Vacations
Apple Leisure Group (ALG) is an American travel and hospitality conglomerate focused on packaged travel and resort/brand management in Mexico, the Caribbean, Hispanic America, Europe, and the Middle East. It is the parent corporation of resort ...
and Funjet Vacations.
By February 2017, Norwegian had expanded to the point that it became Scandinavia's largest airline. On 20 April 2017, Norwegian announced its second long-haul destination in Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, with flights between London's Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...
and Singapore Changi Airport
Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passe ...
, using Boeing 787s operated by Norwegian Air UK. (These flights ended on 11 January 2019.) On 29 June 2017, Norwegian took delivery of its first Boeing 737 MAX, which featured Freddie Laker
Sir Frederick Alfred Laker (6 August 1922 – 9 February 2006) was an English airline entrepreneur, best known for founding Laker Airways in 1966, which went bankrupt in 1982. Known as Freddie Laker, he was one of the first airline owners to ...
on its tailfin and was registered to Norwegian Air International
Norwegian Air International was an Irish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. It operated flights to destinations in Europe and the Middle East from various European bases, and was head ...
. The parent company, Norwegian Air Shuttle, would later accept its first Boeing 737 MAX on 13 August 2018, the aircraft featuring Oscar Wilde on its tailfin.
2018–2021: Restructuring and changes in strategy
To finance its aggressive growth involving the inauguration of many new routes, the hiring and training of new employees, and the accepting of aircraft deliveries, Norwegian sold some of its shares in Bank Norwegian
Bank Norwegian, en filial av Nordax Bank AB (publ) is a Norwegian digital bank which provides loans, credit cards and savings accounts to consumers. The company was founded in November 2007 and is headquartered at Fornebu, Norway and have customer ...
in June and December 2017, and participated in the sale and leaseback
Leaseback, short for "sale-and-leaseback", is a financial transaction in which one sells an asset and leases it back for the long term; therefore, one continues to be able to use the asset but no longer owns it. The transaction is generally done ...
of its owned aircraft.
Norwegian changed its strategy from growth to profitability in 2018, and in January 2019, the airline announced restructuring measures consisting of the closure of several crew bases mostly for its Boeing 737 operations outside Norway, as well as a possible revision of its aircraft order books, including the cancellation of nearly its entire Airbus A320neo family
The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus.
The A320neo family (''neo'' for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321 ( enhanced variant), which was then ren ...
order. On 12 March 2019, the group grounded all of its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, on the advice of the EASA
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) with responsibility for civil aviation safety. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs investigation and monitori ...
, after the Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines (commonly referred to as Ethiopian; am, የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ, translit=Ye-Ītyōṗṗyā āyer menged), formerly ''Ethiopian Air Lines'' (EAL), is the flag carrier of Ethiopia, and is wholly owned by ...
and Lion Air crashes. On 11 July 2019, the company's founder and CEO Bjørn Kjos
Bjørn Kjos (born 18 July 1946) is a Norwegian aviator, lawyer, and business magnate. He is best known as the founder and CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, briefly Scandinavia's largest airline, and Europe's third largest low-cost airline.
Early ...
stepped down as CEO. Kjos explained his decision by citing his age and the company's growing need for fresh leadership. Chief Financial Officer Geir Karlsen stepped in as interim CEO. In the past year of restructuring, Norwegian's stock price dropped more than 85% from the previous year, largely blamed on the Boeing 737 MAX groundings. In an effort to delay its bond repayment of $380 million by two years, Norwegian offered its slots at Gatwick for collateral. Jacob Schram, a former gas
Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma).
A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...
executive, was named Kjos' replacement as CEO on 20 November 2019 and joined the company in January 2020.
2020: COVID-19 pandemic and seeking of government aid
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
impacted Norwegian's finances and operations, and its value on the open market dropped nearly 80% in the weeks leading up to Black Thursday
Black Thursday is a term used to refer to typically negative, notable events that have occurred on a Thursday. It has been used in the following cases:
*6 February 1851, bushfires in Victoria, Australia.
*18 September 1873, during the Panic of ...
. On 16 March 2020, the airline announced it was cancelling 85% of its flights and laying off 7,300 workers. On 20 April 2020, the airline reported the bankruptcy of various staffing subsidiaries and the termination of agreements with OSM Aviation, each of which were responsible for staffing the airline's flights from its crew bases outside of Norway, France, and Italy, affecting 4,700 workers.
On 27 April 2020, Norwegian outlined its plans to qualify for a governmental loan from the Norwegian state, including the conversion of its debt and leasing commitments to equity, its intention to reduce its active fleet to seven Boeing 737-800 aircraft operating solely on domestic routes within Norway, and to postpone operations outside of Norway (including to the rest of Europe and intercontinental long-haul flights) until March 2021. The airline presented these plans as creating a "New Norwegian", further planning to reinstate additional aircraft and operations as demand would allow, and to ultimately operate between 110 and 120 aircraft, down from the 160+ aircraft it operated before the crisis. Shares in the airline continued to decrease in value in anticipation of the airline converting its debt to equity, which occurred on 20 May 2020, resulting in companies leasing aircraft to the airline (including AerCap
AerCap Holdings N.V. is an Irish aircraft leasing company based in Dublin. It became the largest aircraft leasing company in the world after acquiring International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in 2014, then GECAS from General Electric in ...
and BOC Aviation) becoming the airline's largest shareholders.
On 17 June 2020, Norwegian began adding additional flights for the month of July from Norway to Denmark and Sweden, as well as from Scandinavia to other European countries including Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the UK among others as demand recovered and countries reopened. On 29 June 2020, the airline announced it had cancelled all of its remaining orders from Boeing, consisting of 92 Boeing 737 MAXs, five Boeing 787s, and service agreements related to both aircraft types.
After receiving aid from the Norwegian government, Norwegian had also sought a credit guarantee for a loan through the Swedish government, which the government described as being eligible for airlines with a Swedish operating permit and its main operations or headquarters in Sweden through the start of 2020. The Swedish government had allocated a total of 5 billion SEK in credit guarantees for potential candidate airlines, intending the candidates to be financially viable and essential to the Swedish aviation infrastructure, and noted that it had allocated 1.5 billion SEK to Scandinavian Airlines, which is headquartered in Sweden. While Norwegian through itself and its subsidiary Norwegian Air Sweden
Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB is a Swedish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. The airline operates Boeing 737 aircraft from bases in European countries outside of Norwa ...
collectively had a Swedish air operator's certificate
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...
(and through it, aircraft registered on the Swedish registry), as well as operations based in Sweden, the airline's application for a credit guarantee was denied by the Swedish government in August 2020; the government claiming that the airline had not been financially viable as of 31 December 2019, before the pandemic. Also in August 2020, Norwegian warned that the company would run out of cash by the first quarter of 2021 if it had not received further funding. In November 2020, the Norwegian government stated it would not extend further government aid to the airline, amidst fears the airline would use the funding to grow its operations that were based outside of Norway. On 18 November 2020, Norwegian sought for bankruptcy protection in Ireland, where most of its remaining fleet was held, in an attempt to restructure the organization which was expected to last five months. During part of this period, Norwegian once again reduced its network to mostly domestic operations within Norway with an active fleet of eight Boeing 737-800s.
2021: Reduction of fleet and closure of long-haul operations
In 2021 restructuring continued in order to formulate a sustainable business plan that would allow the airline to both receive further governmental aid and investment from private enterprise. In January 2021, Norwegian and its subsidiaries began to reduce their fleets by returning several aircraft, including long-haul Boeing 787
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
s, to their respective lessor
Lessor may refer to:
* Lessor (leasing), the owner of leased property or the agent authorized on the owner's behalf
* Lessor, Wisconsin, a town in U.S.A.
* Lessor Township, Minnesota, U.S.A.
See also
* Lesser
{{disambig, geo ...
s. On 14 January 2021, Norwegian announced the end of all long-haul services to focus on a reduced European route network. On 24 February 2021, Norwegian announced that it had cancelled orders for 53 Airbus A320neos and 30 Airbus A321LRs. On 4 March 2021, CFO Geir Karlsen confirmed that the airline's Boeing 737 MAX operations would not resume and that the airline had sought to sell its 737 MAX fleet. On 11 March 2021, the Irish high court approved Norwegian's termination of a further 25 aircraft leases, and on 26 March 2021 approved its restructuring plan as part of its bankruptcy protection procedures. This was followed by the high court in Norway approving the restructuring plan on 10 April 2021.
To further simplify and streamline its operations, Norwegian retired its Irish AOC held by Norwegian Air International
Norwegian Air International was an Irish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. It operated flights to destinations in Europe and the Middle East from various European bases, and was head ...
, and began the process of reregistering NAI's remaining Irish-registered fleet to Norway and the transferral of its EU-based flight and base operations to Norwegian Air Sweden
Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB is a Swedish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. The airline operates Boeing 737 aircraft from bases in European countries outside of Norwa ...
in mid-April 2021. Norwegian's plans also included the operation of 50 Boeing 737-800s during 2021 in order to operate a single fleet type, to later increase to 68 aircraft in 2022, consisting of 40 based in Norway and the remaining 28 to be based elsewhere in Europe. Despite previously stating that its Boeing 737 MAX operations would not resume and that its Airbus A320neo family
The Airbus A320neo family is a development of the A320 family of narrow-body airliners produced by Airbus.
The A320neo family (''neo'' for "new engine option") is based on the previous A319, A320 and A321 ( enhanced variant), which was then ren ...
orders were cancelled, its plans acknowledged the possible returns of the 737 MAX and A320neo.
In April 2021, Norwegian announced plans to lay off 85 percent of its staff based in Spain due to the closure of all Spanish bases formerly operated by the defunct Norwegian Air International
Norwegian Air International was an Irish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. It operated flights to destinations in Europe and the Middle East from various European bases, and was head ...
, except Alicante and Málaga which would be kept by Norwegian Air Sweden
Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB is a Swedish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. The airline operates Boeing 737 aircraft from bases in European countries outside of Norwa ...
. In May 2021, Norwegian exited bankruptcy protection and its Irish examinership with the completion of its restructuring, following no objections from either of the high courts based in Ireland and Norway.
2021–present: Post-restructuring
Following Norwegian's emergence from bankruptcy protection and restructuring, the airline's board of directors fired CEO Jacob Schram, promoting CFO Geir Karlsen to CEO. During restructuring, two new operating subsidiaries, each with its own AOC, had been established: Norwegian Air Shuttle AOC AS and Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB. This was followed by the transfer of the fleet to the new certificates. The operation of flights under the two AOCs began on 31 October 2021, using their respective ICAO airline designator
This is a list of airline codes. The table lists IATA's two-character airline designators, ICAO's three-character airline designators and the airline call signs (telephony designator). Historical assignments are also included.ht
IATA airli ...
codes (NOZ and NSZ) and callsigns (NORSEMAN and NORLIGHT), retiring the previous NAX/NSW codes and NOR SHUTTLE/NORDIC callsigns. Also by the end of the month, the airline agreed to lease an additional 13 Boeing 737-800s to be delivered in time for the 2022 summer season. On 1 December 2021, the airline announced it would resume the operation of the Boeing 737 MAX 8, with two aircraft starting in 2022, after previously retiring all of its aircraft of the type during restructuring. The airline ordered a further ten Boeing 737 MAX 8s in February 2022. In March 2022, Norwegian Air Shuttle changed its operating callsign from NORSEMAN to NORDIC (previously FlyNordic's and later Norwegian Air Sweden's original callsign), and Norwegian Air Sweden changed its callsign from NORLIGHT to REDNOSE (previously Norwegian Air UK's callsign).
Corporate affairs
Ownership and structure
Shares of the parent company, Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, are listed on ''Oslo Børs'' ( Oslo Stock Exchange) with the ticker symbol and are included in the benchmark index OBX, composed of the 25 most liquid shares on the ''Børs''. Before the May 2020 recapitalization, the largest shareholder was HBK Holding AS (4.64% of shares as of 3 April 2020), whose majority owner is Bjørn Kjos
Bjørn Kjos (born 18 July 1946) is a Norwegian aviator, lawyer, and business magnate. He is best known as the founder and CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, briefly Scandinavia's largest airline, and Europe's third largest low-cost airline.
Early ...
, founder of the company. After the emission of new shares to its previous creditors, its largest owners were AerCap
AerCap Holdings N.V. is an Irish aircraft leasing company based in Dublin. It became the largest aircraft leasing company in the world after acquiring International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) in 2014, then GECAS from General Electric in ...
(15.9% of the capital) and BOC Aviation (12.7%).
The Norwegian Group consists of the parent company and its directly or indirectly owned subsidiaries in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The parent company also owns 100% of the telephone company Call Norwegian AS, and 99.9% of NAS Asset Management, which owns the 737-800 aircraft purchased from Boeing. Norwegian is also a member of Airlines for Europe
Airlines for Europe (A4E) is the largest EU airline association, representing 70% of European air traffic.
History
A4E was founded in January 2016 by Europe's five largest carriers: Air France–KLM Group, easyJet, International Airlines Grou ...
.
Business trends
The key trends for the Norwegian Group over recent years are shown below (as at year ending 31 December):
Management
The company is headed by CEO Geir Karlsen, Marty St. George as COO, and the board of directors is chaired by Niels Smedegaard. Bjørn Kjos
Bjørn Kjos (born 18 July 1946) is a Norwegian aviator, lawyer, and business magnate. He is best known as the founder and CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, briefly Scandinavia's largest airline, and Europe's third largest low-cost airline.
Early ...
, the company's founder and previously its largest shareholder, stepped down as CEO on 11 July 2019, but continued to act as an adviser. Kjos was subsequently replaced by Karlsen as acting CEO for six months, before the company appointed Jacob Schram as its CEO, who served from January 2020 until June 2021.
Air operator's certificates
Norwegian Air Shuttle and its integrated subsidiaries, which together form Norwegian Group, each hold their own air operator's certificate
An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in plac ...
(AOC). Over the airline group's history, it has collectively held multiple AOCs in various countries for the operation of its flights, beginning with the acquisition of Swedish airline FlyNordic in 2008, and later setting up subsidiary airlines in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Argentina in order to access traffic rights and freedoms in countries beyond Norway. By 2021, the airline group had since reduced its AOCs to certificates registered in Norway and Sweden, held by Norwegian Air Shuttle and Norwegian Air Sweden
Norwegian Air Sweden AOC AB is a Swedish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. The airline operates Boeing 737 aircraft from bases in European countries outside of Norwa ...
respectively.
Head office
The company's head office is in Diamanten, an office building at Fornebu
Fornebu (local form ''Fornebo'') is a peninsular area in the suburban municipality of Bærum in Norway, bordering western parts of Oslo.
Oslo Airport, Fornebu (FBU) served as the main airport for Oslo and the country since before World War II and ...
, Bærum
Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...
outside Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
. Previously, the airline had its head office functions inside other buildings in Fornebu, but in 2010 moved to Diamanten, which had been the former Braathens
Braathens ASA, until 1997 Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S and trading as Braathens SAFE, was a Norwegian airline which operated from 1946 until it merged with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) in 2004 to become SAS Braathens. ...
, and later SAS Norway, head office.
Philanthropy
Since 2007, Norwegian has been a signature partner with UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
and has operated four aid flights to various war-torn countries in the world. These are flights for which the company, its employees and passengers contribute money to fill an aircraft with aid and deliver the aid to the country in need. Passengers can contribute when they purchase tickets, food and drinks, or through the entertainment system on board. Initially, the airline used one of its Boeing 737-300
The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft.
Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...
or Boeing 737-800
The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...
aircraft in a special UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
livery, but in 2017 for the first time the airline used a Boeing 787-9
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
, in its mission to Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. In 2018, the airline cooperated with MegaDo and Insideflyer
''InsideFlyer'' is a website specializing in frequent-flyer news.
InsideFlyer began as a monthly print publication founded in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County ...
, auctioning off seats for these special flights with all proceeds donated to UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
.
Norwegian and UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
have conducted five humanitarian aid missions since 2014 to the Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
, to Syrian refugees in Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, to Mali
Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mal ...
, Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
and Chad. The partners claim that together they have delivered emergency aid that has saved more than 100,000 children's lives.
Destinations
Norwegian Air Shuttle serves destinations throughout Europe and North Africa for both business and leisure markets. Combined with its integrated subsidiaries that operate additional short-haul flights, the airline flies to 104 destinations as of January 2021.[norwegian.com - Route map](_blank)
retrieved 16 January 2021
Domestic, intra-Nordic and typical European business and leisure destinations have the most flights. The busiest routes in Norwegian's network are the Oslo to Bergen and the Oslo to Trondheim routes with 15 daily round-trips. Norwegian's largest non-Scandinavian operation is to London Gatwick with up to 24 daily round-trips. Intra-Scandinavian routes, and in particular on "the capital triangle" between Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen, are attractive due to extensive traffic for both business and leisure travellers. Other modes of transportation between these cities are generally slow.
Long-haul operations
Following Norwegian's announcement in 2009 that it would enter the long-haul market, Norwegian subsequently launched long-haul flights on 30 May 2013, which initially consisted of flights from Oslo and Stockholm to Bangkok and New York City. The flights, which were operated by a new subsidiary Norwegian Long Haul, originally launched with wet-leased Airbus A340-300
The Airbus A340 is a long-range, wide-body passenger airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus.
In the mid-1970s, Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner, and developed the A340 quadjet in parallel wit ...
aircraft while the deliveries of the airline's Boeing 787 Dreamliner
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
aircraft were delayed. Over the next several years, Norwegian's long-haul operations with its Boeing 787s expanded to other European countries in addition to Scandinavia, with its route network eventually consisting of flights to Asia and the Americas from Europe. A new subsidiary, Norwegian Air UK, was also established to operate long-haul flights at Norwegian's London Gatwick base.
Norwegian also launched long-haul flights using Boeing 737s between Europe and North America in 2017, initially with Boeing 737-800
The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...
aircraft before it received its first of several Boeing 737 MAX
The Boeing 737 MAX is the fourth generation of the Boeing 737, a narrow-body airliner manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), a division of American company Boeing. It succeeds the Boeing 737 Next Generation (NG) and competes with ...
aircraft. These flights were operated by Norwegian's Irish subsidiary airline, Norwegian Air International
Norwegian Air International was an Irish airline and fully integrated subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, using its corporate identity. It operated flights to destinations in Europe and the Middle East from various European bases, and was head ...
. Long-haul operations with the Boeing 737s were ended in September 2019 following the Boeing 737 MAX groundings
The Boeing 737 MAX passenger airliner was grounded worldwide between March 2019 and December 2020longer in many jurisdictionsafter 346 people died in two crashes: Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on Ma ...
since March of that year, while long-haul flights with the Boeing 787s were discontinued in January 2021, following their initial suspension as an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fleet
Norwegian Air Shuttle fleet
, the Norwegian Air Shuttle fleet, excluding subsidiaries, consists of the following aircraft:
Subsidiary fleet
, Norwegian Air Shuttle's integrated subsidiaries operate the following aircraft:
Historical fleet
Norwegian and its integrated subsidiaries have previously operated the following aircraft:
Fleet development
From 1993 to 2002, the company solely operated Fokker 50 turbo-prop aircraft primarily as a commuter airline, having a total fleet of six by 2002. The company ceased all Fokker 50 operations at the end of 2003 to focus on Boeing 737-300
The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft.
Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...
jet operations. For a limited period in the early years of the 737 operations, Norwegian operated a Boeing 737-500
The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft.
Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...
as an interim solution while waiting for 737-300 deliveries. Following the acquisition of Swedish low-cost airline FlyNordic in 2007, Norwegian inherited eight McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft. The last of the MD-80 aircraft was phased out two years later.
Livery
Norwegian's aircraft livery
An aircraft livery is a set of comprehensive insignia comprising color, graphic, and typographical identifiers which operators (airlines, governments, air forces and occasionally private and corporate owners) apply to their aircraft.
As aircraft ...
is white with a signal red nose and a dark blue stripe, the same colours as the flag of Norway
The national flag of Norway ( nb, Norges flagg; nn, Noregs flagg; ) is red with a navy blue Scandinavian cross fimbriated in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style ...
. The vertical stabilizer or tailfin is painted with a red tip and a dark blue stripe underneath containing the airline's website, with the rest of the talfin either blank white, or featuring depictions of historically significant individuals from across Europe and the Americas. Special liveries featured on Norwegian's aircraft include or previously included promotional liveries for the insurance company Silver, Norwegian's partnership with UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
, Network Norway, and the airline's frequent-flyer program Norwegian Reward
Norwegian Reward is a loyalty program operated by Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norwegian low-cost airline and Norway's largest airline. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behin ...
.
Services
Norwegian's Boeing 737s are configured in an all-economy class layout consisting of 186 or 189 seats in a 3–3 configuration. The airline offers in-flight entertainment by overhead screens, video on demand
Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...
streamable to personal devices, and WiFi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wa ...
Internet access. When the airline previously operated widebody Boeing 787 aircraft through its integrated subsidiaries, it offered premium economy class seating and services. As a low-cost airline
A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
, Norwegian charges additional fees for on-board food and drinks, checked baggage, payment by credit card
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
and other non-core services.
Frequent-flyer program
The airline runs a frequent flyer program
A frequent-flyer program (American English) or frequent-flyer programme (British English) is a loyalty program offered by an airline.
Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program ...
called Norwegian Reward
Norwegian Reward is a loyalty program operated by Norwegian Air Shuttle
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, trading as Norwegian, is a Norwegian low-cost airline and Norway's largest airline. It is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe behin ...
. Passengers can earn points based on the price of the ticket and the ticket class. Norwegian supported the ban on point accrual that was in force on domestic flights in Norway until 16 May 2013, but when that ban was lifted, the reward programs were extended to that market as well.
Concerns and conflicts
Customer services
It was reported in 2014 that Norwegian Air customers had lodged a record number of complaints, with a tribunal judge stating to '' Dagens Næringsliv'', "We have never before seen this scope of complaints in a single case". Norwegian's policies were also criticized by passengers who were left without food, drinks and blankets on board for up to 12 hours (available for pay but only with credit card). In August 2014, 35,000 people were reportedly hit with delays
Delays are an English indie band formed in Southampton, which consisted of brothers Greg and Aaron Gilbert, Colin Fox and Rowly until Greg Gilbert's death in 2021. The band's sound combines guitar and synths and featured Greg Gilbert's distinc ...
when flying with Norwegian, and 1,200 passengers ultimately sued Norwegian for compensation. However, for the most part, the tribunal did not agree with the complaints and only in a few cases did Norwegian have to compensate the passenger(s).
Labour relations
Between 2011 and 2013, Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) was criticized regarding its treatment of employees.
The media first reported NAS's announced intention to open a base in Helsinki, from where it hired pilots on short-term contracts in Estonia rather than as employees within the company. The Norwegian tax-office authorities reportedly suspected in August 2012 that many Norwegian citizens were working for NAS on these contracts and not paying Norwegian taxes, despite operating on flights originating from Norway. The Norwegian Pilot's Union (NPU) took NAS to court over the short-term contracts. Then-CEO Bjørn Kjos appeared to inflame matters when he declared that NAS would no longer hire employees on Norwegian terms.
In 2012, NAS started to use contract-employed pilots on routes within Scandinavia, considered by the NPU to be an abrogation of labor terms regarding non-Scandinavian pilots on routes within Scandinavia. The NPU soon after sued NAS.
In October 2013, the NPU announced its intention to strike because NAS had forced its pilots to face dismissal or transfer to Norwegian Air Norway or Norwegian Air Resources AB, both subsidiaries of NAS; the respective subsidiary would then hire the pilots back to NAS. The NPU and its Swedish counterpart SPF accused NAS of using this ploy to break the solidarity and organisation of the pilots, with the eventual goal of coercing pilots to convert their jobs to contract positions.
In mid-December 2013, NAS demanded that its Swedish non-contract flight attendants transfer to Proffice Aviation, an external staffing company, or face dismissal. According to the Swedish cabin-crew union, Unionen, it managed to save the jobs of 53 NAS employees, but it was dissatisfied with the direction NAS had taken. The situation led to the leader for the Swedish Left Party, Jonas Sjöstedt, to state that stricter regulation was needed for the use of staffing-companies in Sweden.
Norwegian Long Haul
Norwegian Long Haul was criticized for the terms of its contracts with its long-haul flight attendants on contracts based in Thailand. The Air Line Pilots Association
The Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) is the largest pilot union in the world, representing more than 59,000 pilots from 35 U.S. and Canadian airlines. ALPA was founded on 27 July 1931 and is a member of the AFL-CIO and the Canadia ...
further accused Norwegian of unfair competition practices. The airline contested these accusations, and disclosed the pay scale for its Thai employees, who earn between $33,300 and US$39,200 per annum, which is under the $42.2K USD average pay for US flight attendants (though these comparisons are made between solely intercontinental Norwegian Long Haul flights versus domestic and intercontinental flights of US-paid flight attendants).
Accidents and incidents
*A Norwegian Boeing 737 MAX suffered an unspecified technical failure over Iran on 14 December 2018. The pilot made a precautionary landing at Shiraz Shahid Dastgheib International Airport
Shiraz International Airport ( fa, فرودگاه بینالمللی شیراز) is an international airport located in Shiraz, Iran. It is the main international airport of Fars province and southern region of Iran. It is also the largest a ...
without incident. Spare parts required to make the aircraft airworthy were not available outside the United States, which had prohibited exports of technology to Iran. Two months later, the almost-brand-new aircraft was still stranded in Shiraz and subject to seizure by the Iranian government. On 22 February 2019 the aircraft flew from Shiraz to Stockholm after it had been stranded for 70 days.
References
External links
*
Official website
*
Official website in the United States
*
Official website in the UK
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwegian Air Shuttle
Airlines of Norway
Airlines established in 1993
Low-cost carriers
Airlines for Europe
Companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
Companies based in Bærum
European Low Fares Airline Association
Norwegian companies established in 1993
Norwegian brands