Following the US government’s decision to prohibit
non-citizens from entering the country from 26 European countries for the next
month, low-cost carrier Norwegian has announced it will ground 40 per cent of its
long-haul fleet.
The move will see the airline cancel up to 25 per cent of
its short-haul flights until the end of May, bringing the total cancellations
to 4,000.
Between 13 and 29 March, Norwegian will cancel the majority
of its flights to the US from Amsterdam, Madrid, Oslo, Stockholm, Barcelona and
Paris. Services between Rome and the US will be cancelled until the end of May.
Then from 29 March until the end of April, all flights from Paris, Barcelona,
Madrid, Amsterdam, Athens and Oslo will not operate.
The change does not affect any flights between London
Gatwick and the US, and the airline aims to re-route customers through London
where possible.
In addition to its Italy services, Norwegian is also
reducing domestic flights in Norway and within Scandinavia, such as
Oslo-Copenhagen and Oslo-Stockholm.
The carrier had already announced it will implement
temporary redundancies and has now revealed this will include up to 50 per cent
of its employees, with all departments affected.
CEO Jacob Schram said: “This is an unprecedented situation
and our main priority continues to be the care and safety of our customers and
colleagues. The new restrictions imposed further pressure on an already
difficult situation. We urge international governments to act now to ensure
that the aviation industry can protect jobs and continue to be a vital part of
the global economic recovery.”