Norwegian Air will resume flights on 76 routes suspended during the global health crisis and bring 12 of its mothballed jets back into service in addition to the eight already flying, as European countries reopen and demand for flights is increasing.
Norwegian Air is the newest carrier to reveal plans to bring their commercial jets back in the air. The company will add several destinations from their Stockholm, Oslo, and Copenhagen hubs as they seek to meet growing demand from passengers. The step marks the airlines' return to international operations; in recent weeks, it has operated local flights within Norway for essential transport.
The pandemic hit airlines hard, which stopped most international travel, leading many to seek government help. According to Jacob Schram, in Reuters report, the airlines is "getting back in the air with more planes" and reopening many of the routes that "our customers have requested."
Schram added that feedback from the company's clients has shown that they are interested in traveling again with Norwegian beyond the current local services that Norwegian Air has been operating.
More than 300 pilots and 600 cabin crew from the company's Norway bases will operate 20 planes, bringing back approximately 200 pilots and 400 cabin staff from the retrenchment, the company disclosed. After the coronavirus outbreak, Norwegian furloughed or laid off around 7,300 workers, about 90 percent of its headcount.
Last month, Norwegian Air completed a financial restructuring, handing over control of the company to its creditors, saying it could wait until next year before resuming flights beyond the country's borders.
The transatlantic flights for which it is known are not yet resumed, nor is it restarting flights to Italy. The flight reopening is the result of a recent surge in customer demand and is also consistent with other airlines across Europe, Norwegian disclosed.
Norwegian's shares opened higher at 14.6 percent or 3.4 crowns. The flight resumption comes despite restrictions implemented by governments to try to prevent a resurgence of infections.
The British government has ordered incoming passengers to be isolated for 14 days, while Norway stated that those arriving must be subjected to a 10-day quarantine unless they fly from Iceland, Finland, or Denmark.
The increased operations mark a bid to return to normal, but even with 20 planes operating the July service of Norwegian, this would be a tiny fraction of what it once was. The carrier has 82 737-800 jets in its fleet, making the amount of flight this year less than 25 percent compared to the previous year's.
