Having exited bankruptcy protection in May 2021, the newly restructured Scandinavian low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA (Norwegian) abandoned its long-haul operations and focused primarily on high-frequency domestic flights, as well as business flights to London and holiday destinations such as the Mediterranean.
The carrier has just released its financial results for the first quarter of 2023 and Norwegian has successfully limited its operating losses (EBIT) to NOK 916 million. Profit before tax (EBT) amounted to a loss of NOK 992 million. The liquidity position improved through the quarter with cash and cash equivalents at quarter-end increasing to NOK 8.6 billion.
In the first quarter of 2023, Norwegian had 3.8 million passengers, up from 2.2 million in the first quarter of 2022. Production (ASK) was 6.0 billion seat kilometres, while passenger traffic was 4.9 billion seat kilometres. Production was down 13% from the previous quarter as Norwegian utilised its fleet flexibility to match capacity to seasonally lower demand. The quarterly load factor was 80.9% which shows that capacity was well adjusted to lower demand.
“This quarter is a strong demonstration of our ability to adjust capacity to seasonal fluctuations in demand and to prepare well for the busy summer travel season ahead. Ahead of the summer season, we have phased in eleven latest generation aircraft and welcomed many new colleagues. I am very glad that we will not depend on wet-lease capacity this summer. Instead, we will be able to serve our customers entirely with our own aircraft and crew,” said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.
In April, the company announced a landmark strategic partnership with Norsk e-Fuel to build the world's first full-scale e-fuel plant in Mosjøen, Norway, including an investment of over NOK 50 million. The plant will produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), marking an important milestone towards Norwegian's target of 45 percent emissions reduction by 2030. At quarter-end, Norwegian and its subsidiaries' operational fleet comprised 72 primarily Boeing 737 aircraft. (£1.00 = NOK 13.28 at time of publication).
