Norwegian Air have announced that they will reduce their transatlantic service due to a fall in demand in recent days as a result of COVID-19
Norwegian Air has announced that they have reduced their transatlantic schedule by 22 flights. The decision was made as the result of falling demand for air travel following the outbreak of the Coronavirus.
The affected fights are routes between Europe and the US due to operate between March 28 and May 5.
Norwegian has been affected by reduced demand on some routes in recent days with future bookings particularly affected. Norwegian have already cut their capacity by up to 15% this year. The airline reported that their scheduled bookings for the next few weeks are not affected as much by the cuts.
The routes most hit by the reductions are between Rome and Boston and between New York and Los Angeles. The London Gatwick to New York schedule is being reduced from to two daily departures as opposed to three on some days.
In a statement Norwegian said: “Given the uncertainty and ongoing impact on overall demand for air travel, Norwegian withdraws its 2020 guidance provided to the market on February 13, 2020.
“At this stage, it is too early to assess the full impact on our business.”
Chief executive of the airline,Jacob Schram commented: “I am pleased that we continue to deliver on the strategy of returning to profitability following several years of significant growth.
“This is the 11th consecutive month that the planned capacity reduction has impacted the unit revenue positively. I am also pleased that our on-time performance continues to improve as I know how important punctuality is for our customers.
“However, we are currently experiencing reduced demand on some routes due to the coronavirus and have therefore cancelled some flights between Europe and the US.”
