Norwegian meets strong demand for holiday travels in May

Norwegian had 1.9 million passengers and a load factor of 84 percent in May. On routes to popular holiday destinations, the load factor was 90 percent. The airline is well prepared to welcome passengers in what is expected to be a busy summer season.

"May was another solid month for Norwegian with passenger traffic. Many of our customers took advantage of the long weekends and holidays in May to travel to popular beach and city destinations across Europe. Our load factor on these flights was 90 percent," said Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian.

Norwegian had 1,900,211 passengers in May, up 17 per cent from May 2022. The capacity (ASK) was 2,901 million seat kilometres, while actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 2,440 million seat kilometres. In May, Norwegian operated an average of 74 aircraft with a regularity, share of scheduled flights taking place, of 99.7 percent. Punctuality was at 84.9 percent in May, the share of flights departing within 15 minutes of scheduled time. These results were achieved despite ongoing air traffic control issues at Copenhagen airport, accounting for almost half of this month's delays and cancellations.

Looking forward to a busy summer

In May, Norwegian received its last delivery of the latest generation Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft ahead of the summer. Out of a total aircraft fleet of 81, the fleet now comprises 13 of this modern and fuel-efficient aircraft, which demonstrates Norwegian's commitment to reducing emissions by renewing its fleet.

"I am very pleased that we have taken delivery of all the planned new aircraft for the summer season, as well as welcoming many new colleagues onboard. This allows us to serve our customers on Norwegian planes and operated by Norwegian crew rather than sourcing capacity via wet leases. We encourage customers who need to travel on specific dates during the busiest weeks in July to book their tickets with us soon," said Karlsen.