Norwegian Air cash: cancels Boeing order, seeks compensation
Norwegian is cancelling outstanding orders for 92 737 MAX aircraft and five 787s. Frustrated by a lack of progress in commercial negotiations with Boeing, Norwegian has filed legal claims seeking the return of pre-delivery payments and compensation for losses related to the MAX grounding and 787 engine issues.
Its Apr-2020 business plan included the grounding of the vast majority of its fleet until Mar-2021 and a smaller 'new Norwegian' after the recovery.
Some short haul capacity is resuming ahead of Norwegian's base case scenario, with the return of routes from Gatwick and Edinburgh to Oslo and Copenhagen, in addition to some Scandinavia-Europe routes. Norwegian seat capacity is set to be 15% of 2019 levels in Jul-2020, compared with 6% in 2Q2020, according to OAG/CAPA data.
However, even after a capital restructuring and state aid, Norwegian is Europe's least liquid listed airline group. Even after the cancellations, Norwegian still ranks ninth in Europe by outstanding aircraft orders (down from second - to Wizz Air).
It does not need its aircraft orders, but it does need cash.
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