1,100 jobs to go as Norwegian pulls out of Gatwick
It's another blow for the West Sussex hub
One of Gatwick Airport's biggest airlines has announced plans to end operations at the site, with 1,100 jobs set to go.
Norwegian is ending all of its long-haul routes to focus on domestic routes in Scandinavia and across Europe.
Cabin crew and pilots at the West Sussex hub are among those set to be affected by the move, which is being done in a bit to 'simplify' the business in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
The airline has taken a financial hit, being forced to furlough many of its workers in the UK during last year's lockdown.
In addition, the company has been forced to ground all of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes since march 2020 and said future demand for long-haul services remains uncertain - and therefore, not viable.
Jacob Schram, the CEO of Norwegian, said:
“Our focus is to rebuild a strong, profitable Norwegian so that we can safeguard as many jobs as possible.
"We do not expect customer demand in the long haul sector to recover in the near future, and our focus will be on developing our short haul network as we emerge from the reorganisation process.
"It is with a heavy heart that we must accept that this will impact dedicated colleagues from across the company.
"I would like to thank each one of our affected colleagues for their tireless dedication and contribution to Norwegian over the years.”
Norwegian has said it has contacted insolvency practitioners for staff in the UK, the US, Italy and France.
Customers with future bookings affected by the changes are being contacted and offered refunds.
The decision is the latest blow to the West Sussex airport, which has already seen a huge drop in passenger numbers during the pandemic following their decision to close their North Terminal for almost three months in 2020.
Virgin Atlantic announced last May that it would be ending operations at the site, while British Airways and easyJet have also cut back on services due to a worldwide decrease in air travel.
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