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NORWEGIAN

Norwegian adds to Dreamliner fleet

Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle said on Wednesday that it had ordered two new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in a vote of confidence in the aircraft, despite a series of initial problems.

Norwegian adds to Dreamliner fleet
One of Norwegian's new Dreamliners arriving from New York at Stockholm Arlanda airport - Johan Nilsson / NTB Scanpix
Norwegian did not reveal how much they had paid for the aircraft, which can accommodate up to 20 percent more passengers over longer distances and with less fuel consumption than the Boeing 787-8 planes the company currently operates on its long-haul routes.
   
The new planes will be leased from New York-based company MG Aviation. This acquisition will bring Norwegian's Dreamliner fleet to 10 owned or leased aircraft.
   
The airline, which launched its long-haul business last summer, already operates three Dreamliners and the additional seven will be delivered by 2016.
   
Norwegian experienced serious technical problems with its first Dreamliners, from oxygen supply in cockpits to faulty hydraulic pumps and braking systems.
   
The incidents have affected the company's financial results, its share price and its image, but also the prestige of Boeing, which had invested heavily in resources and effort to bolster the new aircraft's market share.
 
Boeing largely resolved the problems by sending technicians to Oslo, stocking spare parts at all airports where Norwegian operates and modifying the faulty aircraft.
   
"This is a fantastic airplane with high passenger comfort, long range and low fuel burn," Norwegian chief executive Bjørn Kjos said in a statement.

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AIRLINE

Airline Norwegian posts 15 billion kroner loss after nightmare 2020

Low cost airline Norwegian has registered a loss of 14.9 billion Norwegian kroner for 2020, a year in which the company saw a drastic reduction in passenger numbers and was on the brink of bankruptcy.

A file photo of a Norwegian Air Shuttle plane in Finland.
A file photo of a Norwegian Air Shuttle plane in Finland. Heikki Saukkomaa / Lehtikuva / AFP

Low cost airline Norwegian has registered a loss of 14.9 billion Norwegian kroner for 2020, a year in which the company saw a drastic reduction in passenger numbers and was on the brink of bankruptcy.

The company published its annual results on Friday, revealing the huge operating loss.

Norwegian’s 2019 result, a loss of around 1.7 billion kroner, had put the company in a difficult position even prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak and its consequent travel restrictions reduced the company’s passenger numbers to 6.9 million in 2020. That is 29 million fewer than in 2019.

Not all of the loss is due to fewer passengers. Around half of the company’s devaluation is attributed to a depreciation of the value of its aircraft fleet, news wire Ritzau reports.

“2020 was an exceptionally demanding year for air travel and for Norwegian,” CEO Jacob Schram said in a statement on the annual results.

“In light of that, the result for the fourth quarter (of 2020) is not surprising. Unfortunately, the majority of our employees are furloughed and many have lost their jobs – in part because of the closure of long distance services,” he added.

The company was already in debt prior to the pandemic and is now under bankruptcy protection in Ireland and is undergoing similar process in Norway.

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