Norwegian has bold plans to expand its low-cost long-haul network and says the UK has a key part to play in that. But some critics claim the carrier’s rate of growth is too fast to sustain. Airliner World’s James Ronayne reports.
Norwegian’s rise has been nothing if not remarkable. Launched in its current guise in 2002 as a low-cost carrier serving domestic routes, the airline transported more than 30 million passengers in 2017 across a network stretching from Bangkok and Singapore in the east to Oakland and Los Angeles in the west. But this expansion has come at a cost, literally. CEO Bjørn Kjos declared himself “not at all satisfied with the 2017 results” after the company reported a £27.4m loss for the year, despite growing its revenues by 19% to £2.8bn.
