Norwegian Air plans “rigorous” route planning to cope with an expected drop in passenger demand over the winter.
The disclosure came as the Scandinavian budget carrier reported a recovery in domestic business travellers following the pandemic.
The number of passengers flown reached 1.9 million in September, down on the previous month but up from 977,719 in September 2021. The load factor was above 85%.
The airline operated an average of 67 aircraft last month with punctuality, measured by the number of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time, at 80.1%. However, 95% of flights arrived on schedule or within one hour of the scheduled arrival time.
Chief executive Geir Karlsen said: “September was another busy month for travel within, to and from the Nordics.
“Going into the autumn holiday season, we notice a particularly high demand for international destinations, both cities and beaches. Nordic passengers continue to have a strong urge to travel abroad.
“We are also delighted to see that the corporate market is returning after the summer season. The number of corporate travellers is now on par with pre-pandemic levels for our most frequented domestic business routes in Norway.”
However, he added: “We expect demand to soften into the winter season.
“Norwegian is well prepared to tackle this quieter period by rigorous route planning, flexible leasing terms through power-by-the-hour agreements as well as sound agreements with our unions.
“We recently released our summer 2023 schedule with an improved offering to popular city and beach destinations across Europe. This means that we are currently recruiting 700 new colleagues across all our bases.”
Norwegian Air and local regional carrier Wideroe finalised a co-operation agreement on domestic routes in Norway in September.