Norwegian Air has confirmed plans to slash its long-haul fleet of Boeing 787 aircraft which form the basis of the carrier’s base at London Gatwick.
Geir Karlsen, Norwegian Air chief financial officer, said: “We have too many long-haul aircraft. We are working to reduce the number.”
Norwegian chief financial officer Geir Karlsen says. ”When it comes to the 787s, that is a difficult task – at least in this market – to divest as many as 15, 16, 17 of them.”
The carrier operates 37 Dreamliners – 26 of which are leased. That adds a further complication to the situation as Norwegian’s lessors are now equity holders in the airline following the debt-for-equity restructuring in May which paved the way for the carrier’s survival.
“We are discussing already alternatives with these [lessors] where we have to find a solution to take down the capacity on long-haul,” says Karlsen. “It’s not going to be easy, it’s a very different market compared to the short-haul market with regards to liquidity and how easy it is to divest, but we need to find a solution.”
11 Airframes which are not leased, less 2 just sold:
https://simpleflying.com/norwegian-boeing-787-sale/
That only leaves 9 airframes to deal with as the "leased" ones are basically costing them nothing, other than maintenance, which is being accrued as a debt.
Looks like the USA routes from LGW are no longer starting Dec 9th, most/all now appear mid March 2021, which strangely is in line with the original rescue plan.