Norwegian is to end its trans-Atlantic and Asian long-haul network as part of its restructuring process resulting in over 1,000 job losses at Gatwick Airport.
The airline group which has been struggling to weather the pandemic is closing Gatwick based Norwegian Air UK which operated flights to the US, Singapore, Brazil and Argentina and also Norwegian Long Haul which is based in Europe.
1,100 pilots and cabin crew are loosing their jobs at Gatwick alone with a similar number in France, Italy, Spain and the United States.
The divisions operated a fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners which we understand will be returned to the lessors to cut costs.
Norwegian firmly blamed the ongoing pandemic for the cuts saying that “Future demand remains highly uncertain. Under these circumstances, a long-haul operation is not viable for Norwegian and these operations will not continue.”
Norwegian is in the process of restructuring under bankruptcy protection in both Ireland and Norway after being refused further help from the Norwegian Government.
The airlines CEO, Jacob Schram said: “It is with a heavy heart that we must accept that this will impact dedicated colleagues from across the company.
“I would like to thank each one of our affected colleagues for their tireless dedication and contribution to Norwegian over the years.”
The news a further blow to Gatwick airport having already lost Virgin Atlantic’s trans-Atlantic network in 2020 leaving only British Airways, WestJet and Air Transat offering limited trans-Atlantic flights from the Sussex based airport.