A second strike by pilots in under a week has forced Norwegian to ground flights across much of Scandinavia today (Wednesday) affecting more than 35,000 passengers.
The low-cost carrier has cancelled all domestic flights in Norway, Sweden and Denmark together with services between cities in the three countries.
The airline pledged to maintain services from the UK, Spain and Finland together with long-haul routes to the US and Thailand.
The second phase of industrial action follows a walkout by pilots at its Scandinavian subsidiary Norwegian Air Norway on Saturday and Sunday.
“Ever since the weekend, Norwegian’s management has been trying to get a solution with Norwegian Pilot Union and the union Parat to prevent that even more passengers are affected, without success,” the airline said.
“Despite repeated attempts by Norwegian’s management to bring about constructive talks to avoid escalation of the strike, it has unfortunately not been possible to achieve a dialogue.
“Norwegian would like to apologise to all passengers who are affected by these cancellations. We will do utmost to take care of all our passengers the best possible way.”
The dispute centres on planned “essential” cost-cuts by Norwegian “to ensure a sustainable company and secure jobs in the future”.