Norwegian Air cuts a number of routes and six bases

The airline NorwegianThe airline Norwegian.Photo: Norway Today Media

Norwegian has decided to close down a number of routes and six bases to save money. The company says they will go a long way to avoid layoffs.

The decision comes in the wake of the fact that Norwegian announced in October that they had initiated a cost program that would cut at least NOK 2 billion in the operating cost level from 2019, reports E24.

“The company has come to a point where it needs to make necessary adjustments to its route portfolio to improve sustainability and financial results in a very competitive market,” says commercial director and HR manager Helga Bollmann Leknes at Norwegian.

  • Too early to say
    Bollmann Leknes says that their goal is to ensure that as few colleagues as possible are affected, but inform E24 that it is too early to say how many employees may be terminated. Everything depends on how many companies are able to move and find other work tasks or bases.

Those affected will be offered to switch to other bases in Oslo, Stockholm and Madrid, or to the Norwegian long-distance network that is operated with the Dreamliner aircraft.

Changes during the spring
The cuts that have been adopted will be implemented from April and throughout the year. There are talk of bases for the 737–800 and 737 Max aircraft, which operate on short and the medium-distance flight networks.

The Dreamliner fleet will not be affected, although some pilots need to switch bases.

Norwegian’s communications manager Lasse Sandaker-Nielsen states that routes for which tickets are sold for should not be touched.

  • The changes that are made are primarily about fewer departures on high-frequency routes between Spain and Northern Europe, he informs NTB.

Spain, Italy and the United States
The bases being dropped are:

  • In Spain: Palma de Mallorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
  • In Italy: Rome Fiumicino.
  • In the United States: Stewart (outside New York) and Providence, Rhode Island (outside Boston).

In addition, Norwegian will shut down the bases for long-distance pilots in Amsterdam, Bangkok and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but cabin crew here are not affected.

The long-distance base in Rome will continue as before, and Norwegian emphasizes that the number of long-distance aircraft of the type Boeing 787 Dreamliner remains the same as before.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today