Norwegian low cost to double cabotage lines and make profit in August, says CEO

The Norwegian airline Norwegian, one of the three low cost who operate in the country, announced that it would be selling tickets in a few days for new cabotage destinationsThis will enable it to double the number of routes operated in the country, where it currently has six routes: Cordoba, Mendoza, Iguazú, Salta, Neuquén and Bariloche.

Although the new destinations have not yet been officially confirmed, Ole Christian Melhus, CEO of Norwegian Air Argentina, badured him Infobae that Ushuaia will be one of them, that the company "continues to maintain its long-term commitment in the country "and that they are on the right track" to be profitable in a very short time, in August ".

The company has dispelled some doubts about the local situation that has emerged from abroad in recent days. The same thing had been done since Oslo by the global CEO and founder of the company, Bjorn Kjoswhen he told Telam a few days ago that "the plans we had for the country remain unchanged, both in terms of international operations and cabotage operations"In addition, Kjos clarified another issue that had sparked local suspicions: the transfer of one of the company's aircraft to Europe.

"The transfer of an aircraft to the European operation is circumstantial, forced by the situation with the Boeing 737-Max [Norwegian tuvo que parar 18 aviones de ese modelo luego del accidente de Ethiopian Airlines, en marzo pasado, que dejó 157 víctimas]. The plane that left Argentina will be back in September when the high season will end in Europe, "he said.

The new local destinations will come into service in September after the return of the company's fourth aircraft to the country. "In addition, as has already been reported, the company plans to add more aircraft this year, for both cabotage and regional operations," said Melhus. Although it is not confirmed, this regional operation would begin in the last quarter and most likely to Brazil, where the company already has a flight between Rio and London.

"Although we can not reveal all the new destinations, I can say that one of them will be the city of Ushuaiafor Norway to reach a global milestone: it will be the first airline in the world to operate simultaneously, with regular weekly flights, to the world's southernmost airport and the world's northernmost airport, Svalbard, in northern Norway, "he said.

– How did the 2018 crisis and the volatility of this year's economy affect local operations?

-All the world's aviation is in trouble. In Argentina, there is inflation and the devaluation of the dollar against the peso. Everything is more difficult because of that. But we do things better month by month. We will duplicate our local destinations with new routes. We hope to continue to grow and create new jobs for the Argentines.

– At one point, they badyzed leaving the country?

-The company was established in Argentina with a long-term vision. We still see the same thing we did years ago when we badyzed the local market: potential and space for our company to offer low rates to Argentines.

-You estimate that the operation will be profitable in August. Can you give me more information about this?

-Our operation is going very well. We had a one-off performance of 97% in March, a record for us, an excellent team, we are seeing sales growth and we are very proud of our new aircraft and the opportunity to offer Wi-Fi in flight.

– What level of occupation do they have?

In April, occupancy was 73%, according to our estimates [para la ANAC fue de 70%]. Historically, the months of April, May and June are less busy months, and then locally, it starts to grow again in July and August. Despite this, we are seeing growth in occupancy.