25 per cent passenger growth for Norwegian in February

Norwegian continues the strong passenger growth. 834 884 passengers chose to fly with Norwegian in February, a 25 percent increase from the same period last year. More than 11 million passengers have traveled with the company during the last 12 months.

- This month’s strong passenger growth is very satisfactory, particularly taking into consideration that February is a seasonally weak month. We are continuously renewing our fleet with more Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The new aircraft have more capacity which reduces our costs and thus the fares. This week, two new Boeing 737-800 are delivered from Boeing in Seattle. Both will commence commercial operation within a few days. An additional three brand new aircraft will be delivered during the next four weeks, said Bjørn Kjos, Chief Executive Officer of Norwegian.

The yield is estimated at 0.51 NOK for February, down 16 per cent compared to the same month in 2009. The development partially reflects a significantly adjusted route portfolio, introduction of new aircraft with higher capacity and lower unit cost, and the removal of fuel surcharges that covered last year’s record high fuel price.

The cabin factor for the Group was 76 percent in February, down 2 percentage points compared to February 2010. Norwegian operated 99.3 percent of the planned flights in February, whereof 77.6 percent departed on schedule. 

 Please find more financial figures in the PDF attached.

 Contacts:

SVP, Corporate Communications, Anne-Sissel Skånvik, phone +47 48 99 44 40

CFO, Frode Foss, phone +47 91 63 16 45.