Norwegian Air Files for Bankruptcy Protection

Norwegian Air filed for examinership in Ireland on Wednesday.

Examinership is a process in Irish law whereby the protection of the court is obtained to assist the survival of a company and allow it to reorganize. It is somewhat akin to Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States.

The low-cost carrier said it had decided to file for examinership in Ireland because that is where its aircraft assets are held.  Examinership will allow the company to seek the protection of the court from creditors for up to 100 days.

The purpose of the filing is to “reduce debt, rightsize the fleet, and secure new capital,” the airline said in a statement.

“Seeking protection to reorganize under Irish law is a decision that we have taken to secure the future of Norwegian for the benefit of our employees, customers and investors,” said the airline’s CEO, Jacob Schram. “Our aim is to find solutions with our stakeholders that will allow us to emerge as a financially stronger and secure airline.”

Norwegian said it would continue to operate its current route network, which is limited by the coronavirus pandemic, and it said that saving jobs would be a top priority.

Founded in 1993 and based in Bergen, Norway, Norwegian is the fourth largest low-cost carrier in Europe It began as a regional airline serving the west coast of Norway and started to become a low-cost carrier in 2002, when it began flying between Stavanger, a city in southwestern Norway, and Newcastle. It announced plans to operate between Oslo and New York City in 2009 and began to place orders for the new high-tech Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which it currently has 37 of in its fleet.

The airline’s livery consists a red nose followed by a blue ribbon and white.  The airline initially featured historically significant Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, and Finns on the vertical stabilizerbut has since expanded to individuals from other countries.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)