Norwegian Air has made another quarterly profit following its financial restructuring in May and the axing of low-fare long-haul routes from airports such as Gatwick.
After a return to profitability in the summer, the airline said its third-quarter figures show “continued positive progress” as passenger demand “is returning across all our markets and forward bookings remain strong leading into our summer 2022 season”.
Profit before tax was NOK 169 million (£14.6 million) compared to a loss of NOK 980 million (£84.5 million) in the same period of 2020.
During the third quarter, almost 2.5 million passengers flew with Norwegian, compared with approximately one million during the same period last year.
Chef executive Geir Karlsen said: “The third quarter results clearly demonstrate that the actions taken across the organisation to safeguard the future of Norwegian by lowering debt and liabilities, while focusing on cost efficiencies, have succeeded.
“We are now in a strong financial position going into the traditionally more challenging winter months.
“We have seen a positive trend in forward bookings month on month and an increasing number of passengers are choosing to fly Norwegian across our European network.”
The Q3 statement said: “Continued cost control throughout the company combined with low cash burn has resulted in a strong financial position entering into the winter period with NOK 7.6 billion in cash (£655 million) and equivalents.
“The stringent focus on costs and expenditure places Norwegian in a far stronger position over the winter months than previous years.
“Booking curves continue to show a positive trend well into 2022 as an increasing number of passengers choose to fly with Norwegian.”
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