Norwegian Air cancels all US-Ireland services following 737 MAX groundings

Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air has cancelled all flights between Ireland and North America from 15 September, just five months after launching new routes between Dublin and Canada.

Norwegian will cease to fly from Dublin, Cork and Shannon to the US and Canada, stating the routes were "no longer commercially viable" due to a lack of demand and the global grounding of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

"We take a strict approach to route management and constantly evaluate route performance to ensure we meet customer demand," said senior vice-president for long-haul commercial Matthew Wood.

"Compounded by the global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX and the continued uncertainty of its return to service, this has led us to make the difficult decision to discontinue all six routes from Dublin, Cork and Shannon to the US and Canada."

Norwegian has offered to re-route passengers booked to travel on the routes onto other non-direct services or issue a full refund if they no longer wish to travel.

With investigations into two downed 737 MAX flights that claimed hundreds of lives in March and October last year still underway, the aircraft has been undergoing intensive testing and evaluation by both its manufacturer and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Following the grounding of Boeing's 737 MAX planes in March, Norwegian began hiring alternative aircraft for the services.

"However, as the return to service date for the 737 MAX remains uncertain, this solution is unsustainable," said Wood.

"We are proactively engaging with our pilots and cabin crew at our Dublin base, including their respective unions, to ensure that redundancies remain a last resort."

Norwegian reported a loss of £130m in its last trading year and posted a loss of another £130m for the first quarter of 2019 in April. It also began scaling back its transatlantic flights last year, cutting all flights between Scotland and the US, followed by canning its Belfast to the US route.

In July, Norwegian's chief executive of 17 years Bjørn Kjos stood down, to be replaced on an interim basis by finance boss Geir Karlsen.