Traffic figures for January show that almost 640,000 passengers flew with Norwegian.

This represents a significant increase compared to the same month last year.

Traditionally January is a quieter period for passenger demand, however, figures were also affected by the rapid spread of the Omicron Covid-19 variant and associated government-imposed measures and restrictions.

“We know that there is pent up demand to travel, the latest international announcements regarding the reopening of society and removal of restrictions have had a positive effect on how customers plan and book their travel for the spring and summer.

“Norwegian is ready to adapt capacity to this increased future demand and we look forward to welcoming our loyal customers on board,” said Geir Karlsen, chief executive of Norwegian.

Norwegian had 637,376 passengers in January, compared with 74,224 in January 2021.

The load factor was 70 per cent.

The capacity (ASK) was 1.2 billion seat kilometres, while actual passenger traffic (RPK) was 905 million seat kilometres.

In January, Norwegian had an average of 45 aircraft in operation, and 99 per cent of scheduled flights were operated.