Published on Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Norwegian to cancel 3,000 flights

Norwegian is to cancel 3,000 flights up to mid-June, which is about 15% of its total capacity, which it blamed on the coronavirus outbreak.

The airline will also layoff 'a significant' share of its workforce, but it hasn't said how many employees will be affected.

In a statement, Norwegian said it had experienced reduced demand on future bookings in the past week.

Cancellations will be across the entire network and more details will be shared as soon as they are ready to be implemented, the airline said, adding that affected customers will receive information about the changes as soon as they take place.

"This is a critical time for the aviation industry, including us at Norwegian. We encourage the authorities to immediately implement measures to imminently reduce the financial burden on the airlines in order to protect crucial infrastructure and jobs," said CEO Jacob Schram.

"Unfortunately, cancellations will affect a significant share of our colleagues at Norwegian. We have initiated formal consultations with our unions regarding temporary layoffs for flying crew members as well as employees on the ground and in the offices. We will continue to engage in constructive dialogue with unions and employees to work through this difficult situation together."

Norwegian carries almost six million UK passengers a year from the UK. It is the third largest airline at Gatwick, from where it carries 4.6 million passengers a year. It has more than 1,200 UK-based pilots and cabin crew.