Norwegian will lay off an additional 1,600 employees

Norwegian is laying off another 1,600 employees after the government refused to provide financial support to the airline to get through the corona crisis.

The consequences of the authorities’ extensive travel restrictions are very large, the company wrote in a press release on Monday night. 

Norwegian must keep costs to a minimum while the company works with solutions to get through the crisis and survive, the company noted.

Schram: No other way out

“After today’s disappointing message from the Norwegian government, we have no choice but to lay off another 1,600 employees in Norwegian and park 15 of the 21 planes we had in the air recently. 

“This is a sad day for everyone in Norwegian. I strongly apologize to the employees who are now affected, but we see no other way out,” CEO Jacob Schram said on Monday.

He says that Norwegian had more than 10,000 employees before the corona crisis, but that only about 600 employees will be at work in the next few months.

“The goal is to keep six aircraft in operation on domestic routes in Norway, and I assume that Norwegian will also receive our share of the support for individual routes that the Ministry of Transport and Communications has announced,” Schram noted.

Tickets

The redundancies and route cuts also affect customers who have already booked a ticket with the airline.

“We will do everything we can to offer affected customers alternative travel, and I have to apologize for the situation that has arisen. All affected customers will be notified directly by us,” Schram added.

These routes will be maintained: Oslo – Alta, Oslo – Bergen, Oslo – Bodø, Oslo – Evenes, Oslo – Haugesund, Oslo – Kirkenes, Oslo – Molde, Oslo – Stavanger, Oslo – Tromsø, Oslo – Trondheim, Oslo – Ålesund and Tromsø – Longyearbyen.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today