The financially troubled Norwegian low-cost airline Norwegian wants to take half of its employees off holiday and cut thousands of flights in the wake of the corona crisis. Because of the unusual situation on the market for the new type of corona virus and the associated dramatically lower demand, the group must examine all possible alternatives to reduce its costs, the airline said. “Unfortunately, this includes temporary leave of absence of up to 50 percent of our employees, and that number can increase.” Norwegian media estimates that around 5,000 Norwegian employees will be affected.
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In the wake of the Corona crisis, Norwegian is struggling with a sharply falling share price. It was only on Thursday that Norwegian shares dropped more than 22 percent to less than Norwegian kr.7.50 (0.66 cents) after US President Donald Trump announced an entry stop for most Europeans as of Friday against the spread of the corona virus would have. As a result, the share lost about 80 percent of its value within a month.
Because of Trump’s decision and the dramatic situation surrounding the corona virus, the airline decided to leave 40 percent of its long-haul fleet on the ground by the end of May, including the majority of the planned flights to the United States, Norwegian said. A quarter of short-haul flights in Europe – mainly within Norway and Scandinavia and routes to Italy – will also be canceled. Norwegian already announced on Tuesday that it would cut an estimated 3,000 flights between mid-March and mid-June.
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