According to reports, Norwegian has furloughed a further set of employees and simultaneously announced new reductions in capacity. This decision comes after the government of Norway has denied to provide the low-cost carrier any further financial support.

The travel restrictions have made it difficult for the airline to survive

Norwegian has stated that its operations can’t continue given the travel restrictions imposed due to the pandemic as travellers are discouraged from travelling. 

The impact of these restrictions have made it difficult for the airline to keep running its costs to a minimum. Irrespective, the company is trying hard to arrive at sustainable solutions that will help the airline survive. 

Jacob Schram, Chief Executive, Norwegian, said,  “Following the disappointing announcement from the government, we have no choice but to furlough an additional 1,600 colleagues. We are also parking 15 of the 21 aircrafts we have operated for the past months. Recently government-imposed travel restrictions have effectively stifled any hope of a stable and progressive recovery. Hence, Norwegian has been hit from all sides by factors outside of our control. This is a sad day for everyone at Norwegian and I sincerely apologise to all our colleagues that are now affected, but there is no other alternative.”

He added, “Prior to COVID-19, Norwegian employed more than 10,000 people. But in the coming months, only 600 colleagues will be still employed. Our goal is to keep six aircrafts on the domestic routes in Norway. I expect that Norwegian will also receive route support from the ministry of transportation, as previously announced.”

Norwegian will continue to operate a small number of routes. These include routes from Oslo to Alta, Bergen, Bodø, Evenes, Haugesund, Kirkenes, Molde, Stavanger, Tromsø, Trondheim and Ålesund.

Apart from this, flights will also operate on the Tromsø-Longyearbyen route.

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