Press release - 7 January 2021 07:00

Norwegian’s traffic figures heavily impacted by COVID-19

Norwegian’s traffic figures for December are heavily influenced by lower demand caused by continued travel restrictions across Europe. However, Christmas bookings were positive.

In December, 129,664 customers flew with Norwegian, a decrease of 94 percent compared to the same period last year. The capacity (ASK) and total passenger traffic (RPK) were both down by 98 percent. The load factor was 52.3 percent, down 31 percentage points.

Jacob Schram, CEO of Norwegian, said: “The pandemic continues to have a negative impact on our business as it has had since March 2020. At the beginning of last year, Norwegian was headed for a positive result in 2020, instead 2020 has been a very challenging year and we now find ourselves fighting for survival. Despite low demand in December, Christmas bookings were positive, and we have succeeded in adapting our operations to the current situation. Our goal is to be a financially strong and competitive airline, with a new financial structure, a rightsized fleet and improved customer offering.”

“The support from our customers, employees and suppliers this past year has been extraordinary. We all wish to travel and meet our friends and loved ones again and at Norwegian our focus continues to be to connect people in a safe and comfortable way. The vaccination is now being rolled out across the world and is good news for both the aviation industry and those who want to travel. We will be ready to meet the competition for customers after the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 has been a tough year, but we will continue to fight and come out of this crisis as a stronger Norwegian,” Schram said.

Norwegian operated nine aircraft on average in December, mainly on domestic routes in Norway. The company operated 95.6 percent of its scheduled flights in December, whereof 88.5 percent departed on time.

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About Norwegian

The Norwegian story began over 27 years ago - we were founded in 1993 but only began operating as a low-cost carrier with bigger Boeing 737 aircraft in 2002. Norwegian expanded across the globe as the airline launched short-haul services across Europe and then entered the long-haul sector serving the US, Asia and South America. We operate a modern and fuel-efficient fleet consisting of Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Boeing 737s.

We were the first airline in the world to join the UN Climate Secretariat’s climate action-initiative in 2019, pledging to work systematically to become carbon neutral by 2050.

From being voted for six consecutive years as Europe’s Best Low Cost airline and for five consecutive years as the World’s Best Low Cost Long Haul Airline by Skytrax to winning Airline Program of the Year Europe & Africa for the fourth consecutive year at the 2020 Freddie Awards - In total Norwegian has won over 55 awards for our service, product and innovation in the industry since 2012.

Norwegian has become part of the fabric of Nordic culture and we take great pride in exporting our Nordic values across the world.

Contacts

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Press contact Norwegian Press Office press@norwegian.com +47 815 11 816

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Press contact Marketing/sponsorship requests: marketing@norwegian.com

Norwegian.com

The Norwegian group is a leading Nordic aviation company, headquartered at Fornebu outside Oslo, Norway. The company has over 8,200 employees and owns two of the prominent airlines in the Nordics: Norwegian Air Shuttle and Widerøe’s Flyveselskap. Widerøe was acquired by Norwegian in 2024, aiming to facilitate seamless air travel across the two airline’s networks.

Norwegian Air Shuttle, the largest Norwegian airline with around 4,700 employees, operates an extensive route network connecting Nordic countries to key European destinations. In 2023, Norwegian carried over 20 million passengers and maintained a fleet of 87 Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

Widerøe’s Flyveselskap, Norway’s oldest airline, is Scandinavia’s largest regional carrier. The airline has more than 3,500 employees. Mainly operating the short-runway airports in rural Norway, Widerøe operates several state contract routes (PSO routes) in addition to its own commercial network. In 2023, the airline had 3.3 million passengers and a fleet of 48 aircraft, including 45 Bombardier Dash 8’s and three Embraer E190-E2's. Widerøe Ground Handling provides ground handling services at 41 Norwegian airports.

The Norwegian group has sustainability as a key priority and has committed to significantly reducing carbon emissions from its operations. Among numerous initiatives, the most noteworthy is the investment in production and use of fossil-free aviation fuel (SAF). Norwegian strives to become the sustainable choice for its passengers, actively contributing to the transformation of the aviation industry.