Airlines Norwegian Air Shuttle’s Irish subsidiary reports loss

According to the newspaper The Irish Times, the losses are a result of an aggressive expansion strategy which includes the launch of several new routes and enticing pilots away from other carriers. The carrier has launched several new routes and launched a recruitment campaign for flight crews at the airlines base in Dublin.

“Our Irish subsidiary made planned investments in 2017 to support our global expansion that included launching new transatlantic routes and setting up bases that created jobs to fulfil our long-term strategy of building a strong, sustainable and global business,” a Norwegian spokesman is cited in the newspaper.

With the new first Boeing 737 MAX 8, Norwegian launched transatlantic flights from Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Cork and Shannon to several destinations at the US East Coast.

The new loss for the Irish subsidiary is more than double the loss in the year 2016. The Irish Norwegian International is a division of the third largest European low cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle. Several media reported, the IAG Group, the mother company of British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus and Level has already made two unsuccessful attempts to take over Norwegian Air Shuttle. The IAG Group currently owns 4.6% of the shares of the low-cost carrier.

Norwegian Air Shuttle and its subsidiaries operate a fleet of 118 Boeing 737-800, eight B737 MAX 8 and 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliner from several bases all over Europe. Additionally, the carrier has launched own operations from smaller airports in the US and received an AOC for an Argentinian subsidiary.