Rapidly becoming one of Europe's most favoured airlines, Norwegian seems to be continuing to go from strength to strength as an increasing amount of people choose to travel with the carrier.
The airlines latest figures indicate that more than 3.6 million people chose to fly with it during the month of August alone, that's more than 10% up on last years total for August.
The load factor, roughly the average amount of bums on seats was approximately 90% across the route network. Even higher on the long-haul routes where the airline is really expanding rapidly. They managed to achieve 94% on those far away flights, impressive when you consider the airline, like all operators of Boeing's Dreamliner aircraft, have had issues regarding engine wear to contend with.
"We are very pleased that an increasing number of passengers choose Norwegian for their travels. I’d particularly like to point out our long-haul routes where the demand is high and continues to increase, not least between London and the US and Paris and the US. We also see that more passengers from other continents connect to other destinations in Norwegian’s route network, which underlines the importance of a strong and seamless operation across the airline," said CEO Bjørn Kjos of Norwegian.
"I am also pleased to see that despite a high increase in available seats, we are filling the planes. Our capacity growth is still high, but in line with our strategy, the growth will slow down compared to previous months. We have been through a long period of strong growth and going forward we will reap what we have sown for the benefit of our customers, staff and shareholders," Kjos continues.
In total Norwegian carried 3,615,319 passengers in August. The total traffic growth (RPK) increased by 31%, driven by a 33% capacity growth (ASK). The load factor was 89.6% on the entire route network and 94% on Norwegian’s long-haul routes. Norwegian operated 99.4% of the scheduled flights in August, whereof 75.6% departed on time.
Norwegian’s fleet renewal program continues in 2018. The company took delivery of one Boeing 737 MAX 8 this month. In total, this year Norwegian will take delivery of 11 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners,12 Boeing 737 MAX 8 and two Boeing 737-800 aircraft. With an average age of only 3.7 years, Norwegian’s fleet is one of the world’s "greenest" and most modern. The single most important action an airline can take to reduce its environmental footprint is to invest in new aircraft and new technology.
