Norwegian has been struggling financially for quite a while. For years their focus was solely on market share rather than profitability, and that's a business model that no longer works, especially with the number of European airlines that we've seen collapse. So the airline has been restructuring, and they've just reported some pretty promising results.…
Continue reading: Norwegian Reports Record Third Quarter Profits
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I hope they keep it up. British airways sucks and American is even worse. Complete dumpster fires.
The main issue ad called out is that they are highly reliant on seasonal flights. The aircraft not being used outside of that season just hangs around at a cost anyway but is not bringing in any revenue. They are one of the only LCC’s left out there that operates to multiple countries outside of it’s home continent so it would be great if they didn’t go under. Not to mention I would like to fly them next year and try out the product on a long haul flight!
Why do you call them a leisure airline? They have plenty of business flyes too.
Errrm, largely transatlantic leisure airline? I don't think that is accurate given their operations across Europe.
Good for them. They've been great for the industry and most of their problems have been the fault of Boeing, with both shoddy 787s and the 737 max issue.
They would have lost money if the 737MAXs were not grounded. The grounding is a blessing in disguise that helped to cut excess capacity and curb their rapid expansion.
While they've returned a profit from a the recent changes, they should be in a holding pattern with any Cap-Ex or major purchase/lease agreements. This would allow them to verify the sustainability of their current business model. With 27 new planes on order it seems they're returning to their former "Nouveau Riche" ways.
I can hardly wait for B6 to get those LGW slots from Norwegian!
Does anyone know why suddenly they are buying A320neos? It's a big departure from their 787/737 strategy up to now. I've also read they are interested in the A321XLR though it is more obvious where that would fit than the A320 unless they are beginning to hedge their bets on the 7M8 - and who would blame them.
@Phil Duncan
On top of everything else they were trying to start a leasing arm, hence the A320NEO orders. Plus it probably allowed them to put pressure on Boeing when it came to negotiations.
Then the A320LR came along after the NEO orders was placed and Norwegian crunched the numbers and probably went "Hey this would be a great plane for long haul". Hence 30 of the Neo orders was converted to A320LR and instead of being leased out will join their own fleet.
Embracing Chinese money in this manner to stay afloat will likely end in tears. Just sayin'...………..
Whilst a better quarter, they have huge debt and financing challenges.
They will need to shrink further and there could well be regulatory hurdles ahead if other forms of quasi Chinese ownership gathers pace
Jury very much out on this option
Hello mr. American!
Sorry to get you out of your bubble, but Norwegian is actually highly active on the Norwegian business market, catering quite some direct routes that SAS refuses to offer and is otherwise in direct competition with SAS, most notably on a lot of domestic Scandinavian and intra-Scandinavian flights. A lot of companies in Norway even have a travel agreement (via their travel agent) with Norwegian as first choice of airline, a so-called 'rammeavtale'.
So, no, sorry, despite being a LCC, they actually serve a lot of business. And that's the reason why they need to keep in business: SAS is lazy, not interested in Norway and will instantly more than double their already high ticket prices if Norwegian goes under.
They've done well to hold on for so long but it does seem like the end is near for Norwegian. It's a bit like Brexit. Nearly at the end before it's then pushed down the road. (Although I would rather Brexit never happened)
I really don't like Norwegian and I can't wait to see them go belly up.
I've Norwegian three times and I look forward to my next trip.
I Definitely root for their continued success.
Their livery is unique, noble and honors remarkably talented persons, whose lives matter and were impactful.
What airline so well depicts the great lives around us?
MIA and FLL are my home airports, ironically both served by NAX. We will see how the split City strategy works.
They're doing the same experiment in San Francisco.
As for the Airbus Birds my read on it is they got a hot airplane, and what is a seller's market with all the 737 nonsense.
And to a previous writer's comments
Is there an airline that has been so roundly impacted by Boeing? The 787 and the 737? Their Long Haul operation was only made possible by the Dreamliner.
They purchased early and they suffered dearly for it.
Long time Boeing fan here, but I'm all in on the A320 family
The Wider cabin is immediately noticeable
- Norwegian operates Boeing and they have more Boeing’s on the orderbook that they have to finance through their own leasing company
- The 100 Airbus 320 neo planes they ordered for a good price they sell now in corporations with Chinese bank.
- The Scandinavian short haul business is their main operations and there where they make a profit
- If things go sour they can sell their long haul business and keep the profitable Scandinavian short haul business, that is very popular for business travelers and leisure travelers
- And a big problem has been and is still is all the 787 problems from the start and now the grounded Max