Things are not going well for the Norwegian low-cost carrier: Since Norwegian had declared bankruptcy for its two subsidiaries in Denmark and Sweden in April, things have become even more critical. A few days ago, Norway’s government announced that it would not give any further state aid to the company.
Now comes the next step (which isn’t necessarily surprising): Norwegian has announced that they will seek protection under Irish examinership for two big subsidiaries – Norwegian Air International, as well as Arctic Aviation Assets DAC including all of its subsidiaries. The latter owns Norwegian’s airplanes. According to their press release, this step is supposed to secure the future of Norwegian.
Norwegian’s company structure, with its dozens of subsidiaries, is not exactly easy to understand. It is clear, however, that the airline is close to going bankrupt and has now chosen the examinership process as the last attempt at survival. The company thus aims to reduce its debt and reorganize itself. The heavily reduced flight plan, as well as the frequent flyer program Norwegian Rewards, will continue to operate and tickets will remain valid.
Since the beginning of the Corona crisis, Norwegian has only continued to operate a small portion of its usual flight plan and parked most of its fleet. Recently, the airline announced that it would merely operate six planes during the winter, only flying within Norway.
Translated by Ditmar Lange