The boss of Norwegian has apologised to customers affected by the grounding of all Boeing 737 Max aircraft and has said the airline will bill the manufacturer for costs incurred.
Chief executive Bjørn Kjos said 1% of its overall capacity was impacted by the decision to ban all Boeing 737 Max flights in and out of the UK indefinitely.
The low cost carrier has 18 Max 8s in its fleet.
Many countries have suspended the plane after the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crash at the weekend which killed 157 people.
Kjos said: “First and foremost, I would like to apologise to our customers who are affected by the temporary grounding of our 737 Max aircraft. Now our first priority is to look after our customers in the best possible way.
“Our colleagues in Norwegian are working tirelessly to find solutions for passengers who have been affected.
“We are combining flights, reallocating aircraft and booking customers to other departures.
“It is also important to keep in mind only a small part of our operation is affected. In fact overall total capacity is only 1% of our seat capacity is affected. What happens now is in the hands of the European aviation authorities but we hope and expect our Maxs will be airborne soon.
“Many have asked questions about how this affects our financial situation. It is quite obvious that we will not take the cost related to the new aircraft that we have to park temporarily.
“We will send this bill to those who produce this aircraft.”
Norwegian will temporarily deploy a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to operate US flights from Dublin airport to support affected customers.
Passengers booked on transatlantic routes to and from Ireland flown by 737 Max aircraft will be re-booked onto flights using the Dreamliner.
The widebody 787 will operate the Dublin-New York Stewart airport route daily.
Arrangements are being made to accommodate passengers booked to travel from Dublin to Stewart and Providence on the new Dreamliner service with plans to bus passengers to Providence upon arrival in New York, the carrier said.
The Dreamliner has 338 seats configured with a premium cabin offering 56 seats and 282 seats in economy.
Tui Airways vowed to maintain its flying programme using alternative aircraft after the UK aviation regulator joined others around the world in grounding the Boeing 737 Max.
The tour operator’s airline is the only UK carrier to operate the Max 8 with five in its fleet and a sixth originally due to be delivered this week.
The in-house airline is drafting in other aircraft to ensure holiday flights are not disrupted.
More: Boeing grounds 737 Max fleet
