Press release -
Norwegian increases long haul fleet to six Dreamliners
Norwegian has entered into a Letter of Intent to lease a further new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, bringing the total number of such aircraft on order to six. The six aircraft are part of Norwegian's set up for long haul operations.
"With the Dreamliners Norwegian will operate the newest generation of long haul aircraft, especially designed to meet the passengers' demand for better comfort and more environmentally friendly transportation. The aircraft type, which is the most cost efficient in its class, will provide Norwegian with a strong competitive advantage and the passengers with low fares to distant destinations outside Europe," said CEO Bjørn Kjos at Norwegian.
Today Norwegian entered into a Letter of Intent to lease one additional new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner from International Lease Finance Corporation, ILFC, to be delivered early 2014.This is the third Dreamliner leased from ILFC. Last year Norwegian entered into a leasing agreement for the delivery of two Dreamliners during fall 2012/ winter 2013. Norwegian has also recently signed an agreement for the right to purchase three Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners, bringing the total number of such aircraft on order up to six. Negotiations for further aircraft will continue.
"The Dreamliner is the most cost efficient aircraft type of its size with considerably lower operating costs than competing aircraft types, making low cost journeys to distant destinations a reality. A primary driver for the low costs is fuel efficiency, which also makes the Dreamliner the most environmentally friendly option. The emissions are as much as 20 percent lower than comparable aircraft," said Kjos.
As with the existing short-haul operation, Norwegian will offer low-fare, non-stop long-haul routes to avoid expensive and time consuming stopovers. The size of the Dreamliner is a perfect match for the Scandinavian market. Combined with longer range, higher speed and substantially lower operating costs, routes previously not feasible as a non-stop alternative from Scandinavia will be a reality with Norwegian's Dreamliner operation.
Contacts:
SVP, Corporate Communications, Anne-Sissel Skånvik, tel.+ 47 97 55 43 44
CFO Frode Foss, tel. + 47 91 63 16 45
Communications Manager, Åsa Larsson, tel. +46 735 22 22 42
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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 13 million passengers in 2010, Norwegian is the 3rd largest low-cost airline in Europe. Norwegian currently operates 58 aircraft on 244 routes to about 100 destinations and employs approximately 2 500 people.
