Fornebu, Norway, 2014-04-4 — /Travel PR News/ — Norwegian carried more than 1.8 million passengers in March 2014, an increase of 25 percent compared to the same month last year. The capacity growth was 51 percent, in absolute terms the highest capacity growth in a single month.
In March, 1,805,551 passengers flew with Norwegian. This is an increase of 25 percent compared to the same month last year. The total passenger traffic (RPK) increased by 52 percent, while the capacity (ASK) increased by 51 percent this month. This represents an increase of 1.2 billion seat kilometres, the largest ever capacity increase in a single month. The load factor was 77.8 percent in March, up 0.2 percentage points.
Despite the increase in load factor, this year’s late Easter holiday impacted the load factor negatively in March.
“The capacity growth is record high this month, due to the establishment of new bases outside Scandinavia combined with the launch of several new routes and frequencies throughout our route network. Even with strong capacity growth and this year’s late Easter holiday, the load factor is higher than the same month last year. This proves that Norwegian delivers its promise of great quality at low fares,” said Norwegian’s CEO Bjørn Kjos.
In March, Norwegian took delivery of one brand new Boeing 737-800 aircraft and one 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Norwegian will take delivery of 14 Boeing 737-800 aircraft and four 787 Dreamliners during 2014. Norwegian boasts one of the most modern and environmentally friendly fleets in Europe.
Norwegian operated 99.7 percent of its scheduled flights in March, whereof 87.1 percent departed on time.
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Media Contacts:
Chief Communications Officer Anne-Sissel Skånvik, + 47 97 55 43 44
CFO Frode Foss, + 47 91 63 16 45
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, commercially branded “Norwegian”, is a low-cost airline listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Norwegian is the second largest airline in Scandinavia and third largest low cost carrier in Europe. More than 20 million passengers fly on its network per year. Norwegian has a route portfolio that stretches across Europe into North Africa and the Middle East, as well as long-haul flights to the US and Southeast Asia. The company has a total of 416 routes to 126 destinations and employs approximately 3,500 people in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, UK, Spain and Thailand. The company has 258 undelivered aircraft on firm order. Norwegian was founded in 1993 and its headquarter is in Fornebu, Norway. In 2013, Norwegian was voted Europe’s best low-cost carrier of the year by the renowned SkyTrax World Airline Awards. Norwegian offers better leg room than most competitors, in-flight WiFi, world-class punctuality and a fleet of 91 aircraft with an average age of only 4.8 years.