Routes to beach destinations in southern Europe helped boost carryings by Norwegian Air last month.
The Scandinavian budget carrier’s passenger numbers rose by 37% over November last year to 1.4 million, with a load factor of 79.5%.
The airline operated an average of 64 aircraft and 99.7% of scheduled flights were completed.
Norwegian Air plans for a fleet of 85 aircraft for next summer, allowing the carrier to offer more departures on the most popular routes. A total of 239 routes are on sale in the summer period, running from March to October 2023.
Chief executive Geir Karlsen said the carrier was well positioned to respond to seasonal variations as it enters the winter low season.
“We have adjusted our capacity to meet the lower demand during the winter season and have hedged a total of 15% of our estimated fuel consumption for 2023,” he said.
“Looking ahead, we continue to see a pent-up demand for air travel, especially to sunny beach destinations. We recently launched several new routes to destinations across Europe, and we are eager to welcome both passengers and new colleagues during what we expect to be a busy summer of 2023.
“While we are now in the low-season, demand for air travel continues to be persistent, particularly to our many popular beach destinations.
“In November, the load factor on routes to sunnier destinations was close to 90% from Norway.
“I am particularly delighted about this month’s punctuality, proving to be the best so far this year and a result of the efforts of our many dedicated colleagues who are doing their utmost to serve our customers every day.”