Traffic figures at Norwegian for September show a continued increase in the number of travellers as demand strengthens across the network.

Traditional booking patterns are beginning to return, while the carrier said it was seeing more people planning ahead and booking to travel to popular city break and winter sun destinations.

“We are pleased to be able to report for the fifth consecutive month a continued positive increase in passenger numbers.

“Demand is steadily growing across all our markets and bookings to our key European destinations are showing that our customers are regaining confidence in the travel sector and are now planning their future journeys well in advance,” said Geir Karlsen, chief executive of Norwegian.

In September, Norwegian carried 977,719 passengers, an increase of 206 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Compared with September 2020, the total capacity (ASK) has increased by 154 per cent and passenger traffic (RPK) up 248 per cent.

The load factor in September was 72.4 per cent, an increase of 20 percentage points compared with last year.

“More people are choosing to travel with Norwegian every month due to our focused route network, good value fares, modern fuel-efficient aircraft and our on-board experience.

“We look forward to welcoming an increasing number of passengers over the coming months,” said Karlsen.

Norwegian continues to ramp up operations in line with demand and the company has now reopened bases in Stavanger, Bergen and Trondheim.

The low-cost carrier operated an average of 46 aircraft in September, of which 92 per cent departed on time.