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Norwegian gets Irish long-haul licence

Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle said on Wednesday that it had obtained an Irish licence for its long-haul routes, to the dismay of unions who argue it will ease the hiring of foreign staff.

Published: 13 February 2014 08:27 CET

Norwegian gets Irish long-haul licence

A Norwegian Airlines Dreamliner landing in Stockholm - Photo: NTB/Scanpix

The company said it had already transferred the first aircraft to the new EU AOC (Air Operator's Certificate) obtained from Irish regulatory authorities. The aircraft belongs to its subsidiary Norwegian Air International Limited, which operates flights between Scandinavia and Bangkok and the United States.

Among the advantages of the certificate, Norwegian said in a statement that it will grant "access to future traffic rights to and from the EU", of which Norway is not a member.

Air transport unions claim that the airline intends to use the licence to bypass Norway's labour legislation — which restricts foreign staff on Norwegian aircraft — and hire cheaper workers in other countries.

The company, one of the few low-cost airlines that have ventured into the long-haul segment, already employs some 200 Asian staff thanks to a temporary exemption, and is in the process of hiring 300 US citizens for its New York and Fort Lauderdale bases.

Accusing the company of "unfair competition", several US unions are lobbying to get the US government to reject a Norwegian permit application in the country.

In the statement, Norwegian reiterated that the application is regulated by the Open Skies agreement between the EU and the United States, "which means that an operator from either party, which fulfills the requirements, should be entitled to operate under this agreement".

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When will Irish travellers be able to return to Spain?

Photo: Josep LAGO / AFP

Spain is one of the top holiday destinations for Irish tourists, being the most popular country for travellers from Ireland for the four years prior to the start of the pandemic in 2020.

In 2019, Spain welcomed almost two million Irish holidaymakers to its shores.

So, when will Irish travellers and second home owners be able to holiday in Spain again?

There is currently an Irish Government Advisory in operation against all non-essential international travel, which means that travel to Spain is not allowed right now, but will this change in time for the summer season?

Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin has suggested that there may be a possibility of holiday travel within Europe starting from late July or August, if the risks associated with Covid-19 are low enough to allow it.

When asked on Morning Ireland RTÉ Radio, whether this will mean that holidaymakers will be able to fly to Spain in late July and August, he replied that the advice was certain that people should avoid all non-essential travel for May and June.

However, he confirmed that the situation would open up more in July, if transmission rates continued to decline.

“We cannot stay disconnected forever. Ireland is a globalised country,” he said.

“We have to assess all the risks as we move forward. Travel resuming towards the latter half of July is a possibility,” he continued.

Tánaiste (Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar echoed these sentiments when on April 29th,he told the Irish Independent: “It is, I think just too soon for that return to international travel”, promising the Government would study the issue next month.

“We may be able to allow international travel among countries where the population is substantially vaccinated, but we’re not there yet,” he said.

However, Spain’s Tourism Minister Fernando Valdés has said that Spain will welcome visitors from June.

He outlined the plans at the World Travel & Tourism Council summit in Mexico last week, saying that Spain would participate in a pilot digital certificate scheme in May and would be “ready to receive visitors in June”.

The EU’s Covid-19 certificates, formerly known as Digital Green Certificates, will allow travel to resume across the bloc’s 27 member states by providing information on whether tourists have been vaccinated already, if they have a negative PCR test or if they’ve recently recovered from Covid-19.

READ ALSO: What’s the latest on the EU Covid passports and how will they work in practice?

Initially, Taoiseach Martin highlighted the difficulties in the domestic use of such a document and voiced concerns about how the Covid-19 passport could be discriminatory and limit the freedoms of members of the public who have not yet had a vaccine.

However, on May 1st, it was announced that Ireland is among a group of EU countries that have signed up to a pilot to test the certificate.

A target date of June 1st has been set for the technical launch of the certificates with an actual start date of June 30th.

It is not yet clear, however, how the millions of people who have already been vaccinated will get hold of one.

So, when the EU’s Digital Green Certificates are finally issued and the Irish government agrees that its citizens can travel once more, it’s likely that travel to Spain can resume. For Irish travellers, it’s looking like a Spanish vacation may be on the cards for late summer.

READ ALSO: Spain will allow EU travellers with vaccine passports to sidestep covid tests and quarantines

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