Tag: Norway (Page 4 of 4)

Geir Karlsen Appointed Interim CEO of Norwegian Air

July 11, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

OSLO (JULY 11, 2019) – After 17 years as the CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, Bjørn Kjos will leave the position and continue in a new role as an advisor to the Chairman, with effect from July 11th. Until Norwegian appoints a new CEO, CFO Geir Karlsen will act as interim CEO, while Chairman Niels Smedegaard will take on a more active role in the management.

“I am very pleased Bjørn will remain at the company as an advisor to the Board and the Chair. As Norwegian moves from growth to profitability, it will be an advantage for the company to benefit from Bjørn’s extensive network, in-depth knowledge of and experience with global aviation. We have already started the process of recruiting a permanent new CEO,” said Niels Smedegaard, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Norwegian.

“I am confident that the Board of Directors will find the best qualified successor to lead the next chapters of the Norwegian story together with the top management team. Leaving the exciting future tasks to a new CEO and taking on a new challenge as an advisor, is a set-up I am very happy with. I look forward to spending more time working on specific strategic projects that are crucial to the future success of Norwegian,” said Bjørn Kjos.

Bjørn Kjos is one of the founders of Norwegian Air Shuttle. During his tenure as CEO, the company has developed from a small domestic operation with 130 employees and four aircraft to a global and award-winning low-cost airline with more than 11,000 employees and 162 aircraft.

“Bjørn has played an unprecedented role in Norwegian’s success. His vision of offering affordable fares for all, combined with his enthusiasm and innovating spirit, has revolutionized the way people travel for pleasure and for business, not least between the continents. Bjørn is definitely one of the most influential European entrepreneurs of our time,” Smedegaard said.

Following a demanding period of financial and operational challenges, fueled by significant investments, Norwegian changed its strategy from growth to profitability in 2018. Going forward, the company will harvest from its rapid global growth and investments. Running a profitable business and boosting company value to the benefit of shareholders, customers and employees will be key for the CEO going forward.

“We have to ensure that Norwegian is well prepared and positioned to handle volatile markets and unexpected events. It is crucial that we continue to deliver on our cost reduction initiatives and that we constantly ensure that we have a route portfolio that yields profit. It is also important that the new CEO develops an organization that embraces continued improvement and operational excellence,” Smedegaard added.

Niels Smedegaard
Niels Smedegaard (born 1962) was the President and CEO of DFDS from 2007 to 2019. He has previously held leading positions in companies such as Gate Gourmet Group, Swissair and SAS. Smedegaard is a Danish citizen and holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree from Copenhagen Business School. He also holds a number of board appointments at various European companies. Niels Smedegaard has been elected Chairman of the Board of Norwegian for the period 2019 to 2021.

Bjørn Kjos
Bjørn Kjos (born 1946) has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Norwegian since October 2002. He is one of the founding partners of Norwegian Air Shuttle and was the Chairman of the Board from 1993 to 1996. Kjos was also Chairman during the start-up of the Boeing 737 operation from June to September 2002. Kjos was a fighter pilot in the 334 squadron for six years and is a law graduate from the University of Oslo. He was granted the right of audience in the Supreme Court in 1993.

Geir Karlsen
Geir Karlsen (born 1965) was appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in April 2018 and deputy CEO in April 2019. He has extensive experience from listed companies within shipping and offshore. Geir Karlsen has over the last 12 years held various CFO positions with international companies such as Golden Ocean Group and Songa Offshore. Before joining Norwegian, he was Group CFO at London-based Navig8 Group, the world’s largest independent pool and management company. Karlsen has a degree in Business Administration from BI Norwegian Business School.

Immediately following the presentation of the results for the second quarter, Norwegian will arrange a press briefing with Niels Smedegaard, Bjørn Kjos and Geir Karlsen about the top management changes. The presentation of the results and the press conference will take place at Felix Conference Center, Bryggetorget 3. The Q2 results presentation starts at 08:30, Central European Time.

One Year Anniversary of Embraer E190-E2 First Flight

April 25, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

A year ago, at 7:35 a.m. in Bergen, Norway, the E190-E2 took off with 114 passengers on board. It was the first commercial flight of the second and latest generation of commercial jets of Embraer, the E-Jets E2.

The aircraft, gracing the colors of Widerøe, the largest regional airline in Scandinavia, completed flight WF622, which ended at 9:35 a.m. in Tromsø.

At the helm was Espen Bergsland, the airline’s chief pilot, and Embraer pilot Celso Fonseca, this flight marked the starting point for Widerøe’s aircraft transition – from turboprops to jets – and a change in passenger comfort.

With the intention of extending the connections between north and south Norway, as well as exploring new international routes, Widerøe decided to expand its operations by incorporating jets that can seat 110 to 120 passengers. Embraer’s new E2 Jets fit the bill.

In November 2016, representatives of the Norwegian airline visited the manufacturer’s headquarters in São José dos Campos, in the suburbs of São Paulo, to see and assess the aircraft. Three months later, the company announced it was acquiring three E190-E2 and the purchase rights for another 12 jets of the E2 family.

In February 2018, the E190-E2 was certified to conduct commercial flights by the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States (FAA), and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

This victory, a triple and simultaneous certification, was recently repeated. On April 15, 2019, the E195-E2, the largest commercial aircraft ever developed by the Brazilian company, also received the triple permission.

The delivery of the first E190-E2 took place on April 4, 2018 at a ceremony held at the Embraer plant in São José dos Campos, São Paulo. After five days, captains Fonseca, Bergsland and Endre Berntzen took off to Norway. On the journey, they stopped at Recife, Las Palmas (Spain), Aberdeen (Scotland) and arrived in Bergen on April 12th.

The aircraft was welcomed to the Norwegian city with a party. Political and aviation officials, the press and employees attended a dinner with music, a Brazilian martial arts (Capoeira) show, a play and other attractions.

During the entrance of the E190-E2 into the Widerøe hangar, a local opera singer sang one of the songs from the Bachianas Brasileiras series written by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. “The ceremony was very beautiful. It included cultural aspects of both Norway and Brazil, as if a bond were forming,” said Fonseca.

So, on April 24th, Bergsland and Fonseca piloted the new aircraft from Bergen to Tromsø for two hours. The aircraft took off with the maximum capacity of passengers – regular passengers, leaders and employees of the companies involved – and made a calm flight to its final destination.

“This flight represents increased connectivity between the north and south of the country on one of the longest routes of the Widerøe network, increasing the number of passengers per flight and bringing greater speed and comfort to Norwegian citizens,” explained Daniel Balducci, manager of Embraer’s customer accounts.

When the E190-E2 landed and arrived at the gate, it was met with the traditional water jets. Slices of cake were offered to all the passengers at the landing gate.

“On the way out, we heard positive comments about the cabin’s low noise level. Afterwards, I even read an article written by one of the passengers on a blog saying that he felt like he was inside an electric car during the flight,” said Fonseca. “The Widerøe pilots also liked the plane very much and found it very easy to pilot.”

By placing the first E2 model commercially in the skies, the Norwegian airline officially started its transition from turboprop to jet aircraft.

Norwegian Air Reschedules $2.1 Billion in Aircraft Deliveries

April 24, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: A Norwegian Air Boeing 737-800 is seen during the presentation of Norwegian Air first low cost transatlantic flight service from Argentina at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Marcos Brindicci/File Photo

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air has agreed with Airbus and Boeing to reschedule delivery of aircraft to cut capital spending, the loss-making budget carrier said on Wednesday.

In total, the announced restructurings and postponements of Boeing and Airbus aircraft delivery will reduce capital expenditure for 2019 and 2020 by $2.1 billion, it said.

The Oslo-listed airline has shaken up the long-haul market by offering cut-price transatlantic fares, but its rapid expansion has left it with hefty losses and high debts.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Tesla Boom Lifts Norway’s Electric Car Sales to 58%!

April 1, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: Electric cars are seen at Tesla charging station in Gulsvik, Norway March 17, 2019. REUTERS/Terje Solsvik/File Photo

OSLO (Reuters) – Almost 60 percent of all new cars sold in Norway in March were fully electric, the Norwegian Road Federation (NRF) said on Monday, a global record set by a country seeking to end fossil-fueled vehicles sales by 2025.

Exempting battery engines from taxes imposed on diesel and petrol cars has upended Norway’s auto market, elevating brands like Tesla and Nissan, with its Leaf model, while hurting sales of Toyota, Daimler and others.

In 2018, Norway’s fully electric car sales rose to a record 31.2 percent market share from 20.8 percent in 2017, far ahead of any other nation, and buyers had to wait as producers struggled to keep up with demand.

The surge of electrics to a 58.4 percent market share in March came as Tesla ramped up delivery of its mid-sized Model 3, which retails from 442,000 crowns ($51,400), while Audi began deliveries of its 652,000-crowns e-tron sports utility vehicle.

(Editing by Lefteris Karagiannopoulos and Terje Solsvik, editing by Gwladys Fouche)

Norwegian Air to Lease Planes, Turn Profitable in 2019

March 25, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air will lease planes and postpone the sale of older models in its fleet following the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the airline said on Monday.

The budget carrier will also use some of its bigger Boeing 787 Dreamliners to offset the effects of the grounding of its 18 MAX jets – about 11 percent of its fleet.

The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide this month following a deadly crash in Ethiopia.

“In addition to continuing combining flights and reallocating aircraft, the company has decided to delay potential sales of six Boeing 737-800 aircraft and use available 787 Dreamliner capacity on high-volume routes, which will add flexibility,” Norwegian said in a statement.

“The company is further preparing to wetlease aircraft to fill the remaining capacity gap,” it added, referring to the industry practice of renting fully-staffed aircraft for a period of time.

Norwegian said earlier this month it would seek compensation from Boeing for costs resulting from the grounding of the global MAX fleet.

“The company has a good dialogue with Boeing and is confident of reaching a constructive agreement,” Norwegian said, without elaborating.

Norwegian Air CEO repeats plan to turn profitable in 2019

Norwegian Air aims to turn profitable this year, its chief executive said on Monday, reiterating plans to turn around the situation at the loss-making budget airline.

“We aim to become profitable in 2019,” Bjoern Kjos told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK. “We’re managing well as an independent company.”

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik)

Norwegian Air Owners Approve Discount Share Sale

February 19, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air’s shareholders overwhelmingly endorsed on Tuesday the lossmaking airline’s plan for a deeply discounted cash call to help bolster its finances, Chairman Bjoern Kise said.

Norwegian Air said on Jan. 29 it would raise 3 billion Norwegian crowns ($348 million) in a rights issue, just days after British Airways owner IAG ruled out a bid for the budget carrier.

Norwegian is trying to replicate on transatlantic flights the low-cost model that dominates the short-haul market, exemplified by the likes of Ryanair and easyJet, but is struggling to make the business profitable.

The European airline sector faces overcapacity and high fuel costs, with several operators going out of business, the latest being British-based Flybmi which filed for bankruptcy on Sunday.

In the rights issue, Norwegian’s owners will get the right to buy two new shares at 33 crowns each for every share they own, compared with Monday’s closing price of 93 crowns.

Holders of more than 99 percent of Norwegian’s equity backed the proposal at a meeting on Tuesday, company officials said.

By selling new shares far below the market price, Norwegian will boost the value of each of the purchasing rights, which can be bought and sold.

This in turn allows Norwegian Air Chief Executive Bjoern Kjos and his business partner, the group’s chairman, to sell some of their subscription rights and reinvest the proceeds in new shares, thus limiting the dilution of their joint stake which stands at 24.66 percent.

Norwegian said last month that billionaire investor John Fredriksen was among those who had agreed to take part in the issue.

($1 = 8.6295 Norwegian crowns)

(By Terje Solsvik, Editing by Nerijus Adomaitis and David Holmes)

Norwegian Air to Shut Bases & Axe Routes to Cut Costs

January 16, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

OSLO, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Budget carrier Norwegian Air will axe a number of routes in Europe and to the U.S and the Middle East, shutting several bases as part of a cost-cutting plan announced last month.

The fast-growing carrier has been under pressure over the past 18 months to control costs and shore up its balance sheet as it looks to crack the transatlantic market by undercutting established rivals.

“The company has reached a point where it needs to make necessary adjustments to its route portfolio in order to improve the sustainability and financial performance in this very competitive environment,” Helga Bollmann Leknes, Norwegian Air’s Chief Commercial Officer, said in a statement to Reuters.

The airline will close its bases in Palma de Mallorca, Gran Canaria, and Tenerife in Spain, as well as in Stewart and Providence in the United States. It will also shut the 737 base at Rome’s Fiumicino airport, but keep its 787 Dreamliner base there.

The company did not give a specific number of jobs that would be cut, but said it would seek to minimise redundancies.

The flights affected are operated by Boeing 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 models. Flights operated by Boeing Dreamliner planes are not affected, Norwegian said.

“These aircraft are primarily used on European routes, but also some longer routes between Europe and the U.S. and Europe and the Middle East,” Norwegian Air said in the statement, adding that this would start in April and would continue “for the best part of 2019”.

The measures announced on Wednesday are part of a cost-saving programme of 2 billion crowns ($234 million) announced in December, Norwegian said.

($1 = 8.5325 Norwegian crowns)

(Written by Gwladys Fouche; Editing by Terje Solsvik & Elaine Hardcastle)

Norwegian Air To Possibly Sell Its Airbus Aircraft

September 4, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

By Ole Petter Skonnord

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) expects to announce further aircraft sales by the end of the year including used Boeing 737s as well as some of the new Airbus planes it has on order to reduce it debt commitments.

Norwegian Air has committed to acquire 210 new aircraft from Boeing and Airbus by 2020.

“We have 90 neos (A320neo) from Airbus on order. The Airbus 320neos are for all practical purposes for sale. We have started a process where we will try to find a new home for those aircraft,” Chief Financial Officer Geir Karlsen told an investor presentation on Tuesday.

“The problem is not to sell them … but to get the price we want … Hopefully by the end of the year we should be able to disclose news on a transaction,” Karlsen said.

By the end of the year, Karlsen estimated Norwegian Air’s fleet of more than 150 planes to rise to 164-165. Taken into account planned aircraft sales, he said he expected a net increase in the fleet of 30-40 new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft by 2022-2023.

Of its Airbus aircraft on order, 33 of them are Airbus 321LR(long range) neos, which could be kept, depending on traffic development in Argentina.

“We are pretty excited about what we are doing in Argentina and depending on how that goes we will decide on the solution on the Airbus 321 and will possibly move some of them to Argentina,” Karlsen said.

ARGENTINA LAUNCH

He said Norwegian Air started to sell tickets in Argentina on Tuesday on two routes linking Buenos Aires with Cordoba and Mendoza.

The first flight is planned in mid-October and the plan is to have 4 aircraft in Argentina by year-end.

“We will look at ticket sales before we decide what to do,” Karlsen said.

Last week Norwegian Air announced the sale of six used aircraft and said as many as 140 planes could be sold over time as a part of the renewal of its fleet and to help reduce debt.

Karlsen said sales of used aircraft would continue.

Such sales would “probably to be sold plus/minus book value as it looks now. Hopefully a little bit above,” Karlsen said.

(Reporting by Ole Petter Skonnord; editing by Jason Neely)

Image from www.norwegian.com

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