European low-cost giant Norwegian Air will not return to the Caribbean once its current seasonal service to Guadeloupe and Martinique comes to an end.
While Norwegian is perhaps best known to Americans for offering dozens of trans-Atlantic routes to Europe, the carrier also flies several routes from the USA and Canada to the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.
Director of Tourism and CEO of Discover Dominica Authority (DDA), Colin Piper has said that efforts are being made to replace the capacity that will be lost from Norwegian Air’s departure from the Caribbean next season. According to an article on USA Today, the European low-cost airline will not return to the Caribbean once its current seasonal service comes to an end this spring. Norwegian Airlines schedule to the Caribbean will end on March 31, 2019.
After a period of fast expansion, the now-cash-poor carrier has been recently on a mission to slow its growth and focus on turning a profit. Norwegian reported huge losses in 2018, totaling a net loss of 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner ($175 million USD).
“Going into 2019, we will enter a period of slower growth and fewer investments, while constantly looking for new and smarter ways to improve our efficiency and offer new products and services to attract new customers,” Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos.
“We are sad to see the end of our French Caribbean operations, which we launched back in 2015,” Norwegian spokesman Anders Lindström. “While our routes to Guadeloupe and Martinique have performed fairly well, with cost-cutting measures as a priority and aircraft utilization in focus, it is not financially sustainable as a European airline to each winter season move operations – aircraft, pilots and cabin crew – from Europe to these islands.”
Source: USA Today
