Press release -
Norwegian flew 150,000 more passengers in December
Norwegian continues to experience a considerable passenger growth in December. Close to one million passengers flew with the airline in December, an 18 percent increase compared to the same month the previous year. The load factor keeps improving even with a strong increase in total capacity.
966,332 passengers flew with Norwegian in December, an increase of 150,770 (18 percent) compared to December 2009. The load factor for December was 76 percent, the same as December 2009, even with a high capacity increase of 34 percent.
”We are very pleased about our improved load factor as it continues to grow despite a strong increase in total capacity. At Norwegian we work hard to enhance the passenger experience. In December we received two brand new aircraft with Boeing’s new Dreamliner Interior that will improve the overall passenger comfort considerably. This year alone we will introduce an additional 15 such aircraft to our fleet,” said CEO Bjørn Kjos of Norwegian.
Norwegian’s regularity in December was 97.9 percent and the Groups’ total punctuality was 63.2 percent. The overall punctuality was strongly affected by the air traffic controllers’ strike in Spain in addition to bad weather conditions and closed airports throughout Europe.
13 brand new 737-800 aircraft were delivered to Norwegian in 2010, whereof two feature the exclusive Dreamliner interior, Boeing SKY. In 2011, Norwegian increases its fleet by adding an additional 15 Next Generation aircraft with Boeing SKY as more and more 737-300 aircraft are being phased out. By 2012 Norwegian will have a unitary fleet of Next Generation Boeing 737-800 with an average age of three years.
Please find more financial figures in the PDF attached.
Contacts:
SVP, Corporate Communications, Anne-Sissel Skånvik, phone +47 48 99 44 40
CFO, Frode Foss, phone +47 91 63 16 45.
Topics
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, commercially branded “Norwegian,” is a public low-cost airline noted on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company is the second largest airline in Scandinavia, and has a route portfolio that stretches across Europe into North Africa and the Middle East. With competitive prices and customer friendly solutions and service, the company has experienced significant growth over the previous years. With more than 10.7 million passengers in 2009, Norwegian is the 3rd largest low-cost airline in Europe. The turnover in 2009 was in excess of NOK 7.3 billion. Norwegian currently operates 55 aircraft on 239 routes to 94 destinations and employs approximately 2 000 people.
