Growth set to slow at Norwegian Air as carrier puts profits front and centre

The pilots at Norwegian Air have taken their foot off the accelerator, with growth set to slow as it tries to put profits ahead of expansion.

The low-price airline said growth will ease up from 18 per cent in the first quarter of this year to minus one per cent in the final quarter. It will average nine per cent across the year, the airline said.

Read more: Norwegian air passenger growth flags

It is a big step away from previous years when the airline grew by as much as 15 to 20 per cent. In 2017 alone it raised its carrying capacity by 37 per cent.

It reflects a scaling back of short-haul flights, while the company’s long-haul options – including a recently opened London to Rio de Janeiro shuttle – will continue to expand, Norwegian said.

“The key priority going forward is returning to profitability,” the company said this morning.

Revenue in the fourth quarter grew 23 per cent year-on-year to 9.7bn Norwegian krone (£876m) while the firm’s loss before interest and tax ballooned 40 per cent to 1.8bn.

The strapped-for-cash airline made headlines earlier this year when a takeover bid from British Airways owned IAG failed to get off the ground.

Read more: Sale of airline Norwegian fell through because of Brexit, chairman says

Last week the company said it would go to shareholders in a fundraising round which wiped millions off its stock market value.

Norwegian has grown rapidly in recent years, establishing itself as the world’s fifth largest low-cost airline with 500 routes to 150 destinations. In 2018 it carried over 37m passengers on its fleet of 150 aircraft.