COVID-19 is also starting to make "victims" among airlines. FlyBe was the first company to go bankrupt due to complications caused by the new coronavirus. And South African Airways is on the verge of bankruptcy.
And now we come and announce another bankruptcy. On April 20, 2020, Norwegian Air Shuttle was forced to close four subsidiaries in Denmark and Sweden. The reasons are clear! Financial problems exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis.
The Norwegian government guaranteed support for the airline if it met certain conditions. On 24 March 2020, Norwegian met the requirements of the government and received the first tranche of USD 27,4 million (NOK 300 million). Unfortunately, the governments of Sweden and Denmark did not provide financial support and this led to the bankruptcy of Norwegian subsidiaries.
Norwegian Executive Director Jacob Schram said the impact of the pandemic is "unprecedented" and the company has done everything to "avoid making this decision" to close the four companies.
Following the bankruptcy, 1.571 pilots and 3.134 flight attendants will be laid off. Norwegian also has 700 pilots and 1.300 flight attendants in Norway, France and Italy, who will not be affected by this decision.