In a statement issued by the Norwegian low-cost carrier, Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian) confirmed that recent talks with Boeing with regard to the financial losses it suffered both from the grounding of the 737 MAX after two fatal crashes and engine issues with the Dreamliner 787 have “not led to an agreement with a reasonable compensation.”
Norwegian, like most airlines, had been heavily hit by the drop in demand from passengers as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and as a consequence decided to cancel its current orders for 93 737 MAX jets and five 787 Dreamliners. Norwegian has also filed a legal claim against the world’s second-largest planemaker for the return of payment made for these aircraft. In addition, it is seeking compensation payments for losses incurred from the grounding of the 737 MAX and also technical issues it had encountered with the 787 Dreamliner after technical problems had been discovered with the Trent 1000 engines which had “affected reliability and resulted in premature and unplanned maintenance, which has disrupted the company’s operations and caused further significant losses.”
Norwegian is Europe’s fourth-largest low-cost carrier behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, and is the largest Scandinavian carrier. It has four fully owned subsidiaries, namely Ireland-based Norwegian Air International, U.K.-based Norwegian Air UK, Swedish-based Norwegian Air Sweden, and Norway-based Norwegian Long Haul. Combined, the group operates a fleet of 122 aircraft and serves 149 individual destinations both regionally in Scandinavia, and internationally to places such as London and several Mediterranean airports. The low cost carrier still has 30 Airbus A321LR jets on order with delivery due to commence in 2021.
