Nov 18 (Reuters) - Having grown rapidly to become Europe's
third-largest low-cost airline and one of the few to apply the
budget model to transatlantic flights, Norwegian Air
is fighting for its survival again, having asked an Irish court
to oversee a restructuring of its massive debt on Wednesday.
Following are key dates in the company's 27-year history.
2020
Nov. 9: The Norwegian government says that it will not
provide additional financial support for the cash-strapped
carrier
Aug. 28: Norwegian Air says it will need to secure funding
this year for the next 18 months or more to see it through the
COVID-19 pandemic after reporting first-half losses of $610
million.
May 18: Norwegian Air completes a cut-price share sale and
wins bondholders' backing for a refinancing, allowing it to
continue operating with a slimmed-down schedule.
March 24: The airline receives an initial government cash
injection of 300 million Norwegian crowns ($33 million).
March 16: Norwegian says it is cancelling 85% of its flights
and temporarily laying off 7,300 employees because of the
coronavirus outbreak.
March 5: Company scraps its 2020 earnings guidance and
cancels some of its transatlantic flights.
Feb. 13: Norwegian says it will make deeper capacity cuts in
2020 than previously announced as it aims to return to profit
after three consecutive years of losses.
2019
Nov. 20: Appoints Jacob Schram as CEO. Schram, who does not
have a background in aviation, had worked for consulting company
McKinsey among previous roles.
Nov. 5: Raises 2.5 billion Norwegian crowns to meet its cash
needs through 2020 with its third share sale in two years and a
bond issue.
Sept. 16: Norwegian's bondholders accept the company's plea
to postpone repayment of $380 million by up to two years.
Aug. 19: Agrees to sell its stake in banking company
Norwegian Finans Holding for 2.22 billion crowns.
July 11: Co-founder Bjoern Kjos steps down as CEO.
April 10: Norwegian postpones Airbus plane deliveries
scheduled for 2019 and 2020, cutting its capital spending by
$570 million.
March 12: Norwegian grounds its Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets after
a fatal crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX.
Feb. 18-19: Norwegian announces deep-discount share issue at
only a third of the market price.
Jan. 24: International Consolidated Airlines Group
(IAG), the owner of British Airways, says it will not make a bid
for Norwegian and will sell its stake in the company.
2018
May 4: Board confirms that it has received two separate
conditional proposals from IAG Group in relation to an
acquisition of 100% of its share capital.
March 21:
Norwegian raises 1.3 billion crowns in a share sale to help
to fund its expansion and cope with higher fuel costs after
warning of a larger than expected loss in the quarter.
2017
July 17: Norwegian's first flight using the Boeing 737 MAX
takes off from Edinburgh.
2015
Oct. 22: Norwegian orders 19 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, more
than quadrupling its long-haul fleet.
2013
May 30: Norwegian's first intercontinental flight departs
from Oslo to New York.
2012
Jan. 25: Norwegian orders 122 planes from Boeing, 100 of
which are Boeing 737 MAX 8 jets. The airline also enters
agreement with Airbus about buying 100 Airbus A320neo jets. In
total, the planes are worth 127 billion Norwegian crowns.
2011
Feb. 8: Norwegian becomes the first airline to offer free
WiFi on European flights.
2007
April 24: Norwegian buys FlyNordic from Finnair
and becomes the biggest low-cost airline in Scandinavia.
2003
Dec. 18: Norwegian shares are listed on Oslo Stock Exchange.
2002
Sept. 1: Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) rebrands as Norwegian
and starts operating with Boeing 737-300 planes.
1993
Jan. 22: Norwegian Air Shuttle is founded and takes over
regional airline services on Norway's West Coast. Flights are
operated in cooperation with Norwegian airline Braathens. NAS
initially operates with a fleet of three leased Fokker 50.
($1 = 9.4785 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Tommy Lund, Paulina Cwikowska, Milla Nissi,
Aleksandra Jasiurska; Editing by David Goodman and Keith Weir)
International Airlines (IAG)
