Norwegian Air Shuttle Boeing 737-800 with registration LN-DYE as seen with passengers boarding the plane for departure at Ålesund Airport, Vigra AES ENAL in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway.
Nicolas Economou | NurPhoto via Getty Images
Norwegian Air has canceled orders for 97 Boeing aircraft and will seek compensation from the U.S. aircraft maker for the grounding of the 737 Max and 787 engine problems that affected its results, the Oslo-based airline said Monday.
Norwegian’s cancellation included 92 of the 737 Max, five 787 Dreamliners and so-called GoldCare service agreements related to both types of aircraft.
Norwegian has also filed a legal claim seeking the return of the pre-delivery payments related to the aircraft and compensation for the company’s losses related to the grounding of the 737-Max and engine problems on the 787. “, said.
The European budget carrier, which revolutionized transatlantic travel by offering cheap fares, was struggling before the Covid-19 pandemic brought the airline industry to its knees.
One reason was the grounding of the 737 Max aircraft in March 2019 after the second of two fatal accidents that together killed 346 people. Norwegian had 18 Max passenger jets in its fleet of 163 jets at the time.
Originally a small regional airline in Scandinavia, Norwegian made its breakthrough on the world stage with a multi-year order in 2012 for up to 372 aircraft, of which 222 were from Boeing and 150 from Airbus.
The news comes just as Boeing began a crucial series of Max certification flight tests on Monday as the aircraft maker hopes to overcome its biggest crisis.
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