Norwegian Air, which shook up the trans-Atlantic market in 2015 with fares as low as $69 is leaving the market to its better-funded, if higher-priced competitors. The bankrupt airline will now return to its original Scandinavian focus with some flights to other parts of Europe.
In doing so, it will shed its remaining fleet of long-haul planes, mostly 787s. It will also close its crew basses at London Gatwick, Rome and Spain as well as the North American bases. At its peak, Norwegian was operating flights to nearly two dozen U.S. cities, including 737 Max service to several smaller East Coast cities.
Norwegian had actually been in trouble before the big pandemic shutdowns, most of its trouble resulting from highly-leveraged rapid expansion, and from aircraft issues as some of its 787s were grounded by problems with Rolls-Royce engines in some. A deal late last year arranged to convert a large chunk of its $2.3 billion to equity for its creditors.
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