In the past couple of weeks we've seen many airlines become more optimistic about future prospects, as consumers seem keen to travel again. You can now add Norwegian Air to the list of airlines ramping up operations sooner than expected. Norwegian Air was supposed to (mostly) stay grounded until 2021 In a business plan presented…
Continue reading: Surprising: Norwegian Air Resuming 76 Routes In July
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@This is actually the entirety of Norwegian’s short haul fleet — the airline exclusively uses 737s for short haul flights, and has 20 737-800s
Norwegian has a fleet of about 80 737-800 spread across various subsidiaries - Norwegian Air International, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Norwegian Air Sweden.
So they would operated about a quarter of the short haul fleet.
Not gonna happen; wishful thinking, in spades. Many of these destinations will be a lockdown from a second wave. I hope I’m wrong.
Uhm, no one is going to lockdown for a virus that is 99.74% survivable.
That’s the difference. We have the data now we didn’t have in March when everyone panicked.
People said then it had an IFR of up to 3%! And millions would die in each country.
That was wrong. It about 2x the flu or maybe the same.
You lock up the old and vulnerable and let normal people live their lives.
Travel is growing, and no one will tolerate going through this again for no reason again.
@Howard
Certainly NOT. Without the lockdowns/severe restrictions on movement/social distancing, millions would have died...without a shadow of doubt. Eastern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, all of Central and South America, much of Africa....are in the early stages. Now is not the time for dilettantes to start swanning around the world, particularly as there’s no compelling reason for it.
Travel might be possible in the first quarter of 2021, but certainly not this year.
I think the truth is probably somewhere between Howard's and Paolo's reactions. Estimates for IFR I've seen tend to be between 0.5% and 1%, which is still fairly low, but I haven't seen much evidence pointing that it's .26% (feel free to link to source though, I may have just missed it).
That being said, even with this higher IFR, I'm not sure places will lock down for a second wave. France has already said they won't be locking down again, as they can now test and contact trace as necessary, and they have sufficient hospital capacity to deal with another wave. I'm not sure what other European countries are doing, but it would surprise me if there were more full scale confinements like what we just went through.
That being said, people will likely still travel at reduced rates and there maybe some restrictions imposed, both of which will cut down on the profitability of these routes. Given that Norwegian wasn't doing well even before this, I wonder how long they'll be able to keep it up.
Within Europe is a bit misleading. It’s mostly between Oslo and European cities, with some routes from other Scandinavian airports.
It’s also worth to notice that Norway (and many other European countries) still have pretty strict entry rules, which makes this interesting.
It's also with mentioning that August is coming and for anyone with European friends or family, you understand what I mean by that...It has been very easy for Europe to sit back and say what they should have done, or what PRC or North America should have done, but try and tell them that they all aren't going on "summer holiday'...They will lose their minds...!!!
Most of Europe is starting up no later than 30JUN with no restrictions.. Even Countries like Ukraine have opened and will have no restrictions.
I was a t Norwegian customer who frequently recommended Norwegian to friends. Some of my friends friends are still owed money for long canceled flights
Norwegian continued to sell tickets for flights knowing full well that they would not be flying those routes on those dates.
The one word description for what Norwegian did is fraud.
The idea was to collect a fare and then try to trick customers into accepting their "cashpoints" of a future flight without knowing what routes and fares will eventually become available.
Great way to raise interest free capital, provide your dishonest.
Norwegian website website represented longed cancel flights as "sold out" to avoid issuing refunds and continue to pester customers via email to accept cashpoints.
My personal experience has been Norwegian only actually issues legally mandated refunds for canceled flights under threat of a DOT or EU-261 complaint.
I will never fly them again and will always warn friends that Norwegian's management has proven themselves dishonest and unethical.
I'm not surprised. Most European countries -- with the exception of the United Kingdom and Sweden -- have basically suppressed their epidemics. The European Union is the safest place in the world right now. And, of course, Europeans recognize that and are ready to enjoy their summer holidays.