Norwegian reports the highest passenger number ever in May. Close to 1.2 million passengers flew with the airline last month. The traffic figures show that air travel is back to normal after European Authorities closed major parts of European airspace in April. The company had a passenger growth of 25 percent compared to May 2009.

As many as 1,185,373 passengers travelled with Norwegian in May, the highest number of passengers the company has ever reported in a single month. Norwegian also experienced a significant growth in May last year. A 25 percent growth compared to strong figures last year is therefore very pleasing, particularly taking into consideration that May this year had more public holidays which normally reduce travel activity on business destinations. The ASK growth was 38 percent and the load factor was 77 percent, the same as May 2009.

”April was an extremely challenging month for Norwegian due to the Authorities’ closing of European airspace. I am very satisfied to note the positive momentum which the company is in, particularly the substantial passenger growth. Given the fact the we have larger aircraft with more seats, it is also positive that we are able to maintain the same load factor as last year, said Bjørn Kjos, Chief Executive Officer of Norwegian.

Only six flights were cancelled due to volcanic ash in May, while 2,000 were cancelled in April.

In May the yield is estimated at 0.51 NOK, down 14 percent compared to May 2009. The development partially reflects a significantly adjusted route portfolio and the introduction of 12 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft with higher capacity and lower unit cost since May last year.

The company operated 99.7 percent of its scheduled flights in May, of which 88.2 percent departed on time.