Norwegian has won High Court protection from creditors for its key Irish subsidiaries as the carrier begins the latest bid to salvage its struggling operations.

Justice Michael Quinn appointed KPMG partner, Kieran Wallace, as interim examiner to Irish-based Norwegian Air International, Arctic Aviation Assets DAC and three other companies.

The Irish subsidiaries named their parent, Norwegian Air Shuttle, as a related company.

The court granted a total of six entities interim protection from their creditors.

The case is due back before Quinn on December 7th.

Norwegian Air went to the Irish High Court as its subsidiaries there hold most of its aircraft.

Jacob Schram, chief executive of Norwegian, argued that seeking Irish court protection to re-organise the business would benefit workers, customers and shareholders.

“Our aim is to find solutions with our stakeholders that will allow us to emerge as a financially stronger and secure airline,” he added.

The purpose of the process is to reduce debt, downsize the fleet and secure new capital.

The process is estimated to take up to five months.

Norwegian said it planned to operate its route network (currently limited due to the Covid-19 situation) and trade as normal on the Oslo Stock Exchange (Oslo Børs).

Schram added: “Our intent is clear - we will emerge from this process as a more financially secure and competitive airline, with a new financial structure, a rightsized fleet and improved customer offering.”