James Warren
TROUBLED low-cost carrier Norwegian Airlines has announced that it will cut 1,200 jobs across Spain in a European restructuring plan as it battles with debt during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Oslo based company announced last week that it would be laying off 85% of its Spanish workforce, a figure amounting to 1,191 jobs across the country.
The job cuts will be the result of the closure of three national bases in Spain, Barcelona, Gran Canaria and Tenerife Sur.
Union bosses have announced that its hubs in Alicante and Malaga will remain open but with reduced capacity with just one aircraft operating out of each.
The cuts are part of a global restructuring plan of the airline, with it ceasing all its long haul operations, putting an end to its US, Asia and UK flights.
This plan has also reduced its entire air fleet from 156 to just 50 aircraft as of April 2021.
The long haul scraps have been made to protect its core domestic and regional flying routes according to the company, who are in the midst of battling the severe financial damage caused by COVID-19.
The airline, once Europe’s fourth most popular budget carrier behind Wizz Air, easyJet and Ryanair, has amassed debts of over €4.3 billion over the past 18 months.
This led the airline to seek out support from the courts who approved a survival plan last month to bail out both Norwegian and its subsidiaries.
Norwegian is the latest European carrier to receive government bailouts due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Spain, Iberia and Vueling have both been the subject of government loans, with each receiving €750 million and €260 million respectively from the Spanish government.
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