Norwegian Air Shuttle has cancelled its outstanding orders for 92 Boeing 737 MAX and five 787 Dreamliner, the airline said in a notice on Monday evening.
The European low-cost carrier is also requesting compensation for the 737 MAX grounding, as well as for the troubles it experienced with the Boeing 787’s Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines. It is seeking the return of pre-delivery payments made to Boeing for the undelivered planes.
The complete cancellation of its orders for the two aircraft types also comes with the termination of so-called ‘GoldCare’ service agreements. Prior to the worldwide grounding and delivery suspension that started more than a year ago in March 2019, Norwegian had already received 18 737 MAX 8 aircraft. It was not immediately clear whether the carrier would resume 737 MAX operations once the grounding is lifted.
Norwegian’s long-haul fleets consists entirely of 37 Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with the five now-cancelled orders all being close to delivery. It operates the 787-8 and the slightly larger 787-9 variants.
Right now, the low-cost carrier has grounded almost its entire fleet as it is struggling with the ongoing Coronavirus crisis. Only around ten airplanes are operating in the airline’s home country Norway.
Jakob Wert is an aviation journalist from Germany. He built up the website IFN.news and is the Editor-In-Chief of International Flight Network.
