OSLO (Reuters) – The CEO of budget carrier Norwegian Air, under pressure to staff its fleet as it ramps up transatlantic business, said yesterday summer bookings are good and it has “more than enough” pilots to cover the season.
The company, which has been courted by British Airways owner IAG, struggled last summer to have enough pilots on duty and had to lease extra planes and staff that weighed on its bottom line.
“We have more than enough pilots this year and we have hired many pilots that we have trained up. We are very well covered for the summer,” CEO Bjoern Kjos said in an interview with Reuters. Asked whether bookings for the busy summer season were strong, Mr Kjos said: “Yes.”
Norwegian Air shares rose after the comments. They were up 6.5 percent to 280 crowns compared to a decline of 0.3 percent in the Oslo Bourse share main index.
Ryanair last year approached Norwegian with a proposal to take a stake of around 20 percent in the Oslo-listed carrier, a source with close knowledge of the discussion separately told Reuters.
Europe’s largest and third-largest low-cost airlines respectively, Ryanair and Norwegian compete for passengers as well as pilots and crews across the continent.
Mr Kjos said there had been contact between the companies, but declined to discuss any details.
