Strong Passenger Growth for Norwegian in April

Norwegian’s passenger growth continues in April. More than 1.2 million passengers flew with the airline this month, an increase of over 416,000 passengers (53 percent) compared to the same period the previous year. Although the closing of European airspace in April 2010 affects the figures, April is a very good month for the company, as it experiences a considerable growth in passengers as well as increased load factor and capacity.

In April, 1,207,891 passengers flew with Norwegian, compared to 791,371 in the same month the previous year, an increase of 53 percent. Adjusted for the closed European airspace due to volcanic ash in April 2010, Norwegian still experienced a 22 percent RPK growth and a 17 percent ASK growth.

Improved yield and higher load
The load factor was 77 percent, up 6 percentage points compared to April last year. Adjusted for the closed airspace, the load factor was up 3 percentage points. The yield improved by 6 percent compared to April 2010; adjusted for the closed airspace, the yield is up 1 percent.

“Our April traffic figures are affected by last year’s closure of the European airspace and the traditional Easter travel peak falling in different months in 2010 and 2011. We are very satisfied that we are able to continue to fill our planes even with a strong capacity increase,” said CEO Bjørn Kjos at Norwegian.

Norwegian operated 99.9 percent of the scheduled flights, whereof 82.8 percent departed on time. The punctuality was influenced by the The Aviation Authorities’ (Avinor) introduction of a new arrival route system at Oslo Airport Gardermoen.

Free in-flight WiFi a success
In February Norwegian introduced free in-flight WiFi on its aircraft. The reception among the passengers has been overwhelming, with more than half of our passengers going online on selected flights. By summer 2011, eleven aircraft will be equipped with the new technology and 21 aircraft will be equipped with the system by the end of the year. By the end of 2012, Norwegian plans to offer WiFi fleet-wide.