Norwegian is cutting 123 jobs at Copenhagen Airport after concluding consultations with trade unions representing its employees. The decision affects 53 pilots and 70 cabin crew members working at the airline’s Danish base.
The final number is slightly lower than the 125 positions initially identified as at risk when the Norwegian airline announced its restructuring plans earlier in October.
According to Danish broadcaster TV 2 Kosmopol, citing financial newspaper Finans, the company has now decided to proceed with the redundancies.
Sara Neergaard, Norwegian’s country manager in Denmark, described the announcement as a difficult moment for the company and its employees.
“It is a sad day for Norwegian, and I am deeply affected on behalf of the employees concerned.”
Neergaard told Finans that the redundancies were necessary and that the company saw no alternative.
Why Norwegian is reducing its workforce in Copenhagen
The decision follows an earlier restructuring announcement linked to seasonal fluctuations in passenger demand at Copenhagen Airport.
Norwegian previously explained that its Danish operations require considerably more aircraft during the summer than during the winter.
As reported by Danish news agency Ritzau, the airline plans to reduce the number of aircraft based in Copenhagen during the summer season from 16 to 14, while maintaining its planned summer departures. Some flights will instead be operated using aircraft based in Spain.
The airline had also stated that the restructuring was not the result of a financial crisis, but rather an attempt to adapt its operations to changing seasonal demand, according to the aviation workers’ union publication Fagbladet Luftfart.
The final number of layoffs is lower than initially proposed
When consultations began, 55 pilots and 70 cabin crew members were at risk of losing their jobs. The original proposal therefore involved 125 positions, representing approximately one fifth of Norwegian’s flight crew in Copenhagen, as recorded by Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor.
The final decision reduces the number of affected pilots by two, while the number of cabin crew redundancies remains unchanged, according to Sweden Herald’s report on the decision.
The confirmed cuts mark the conclusion of the consultation process, although the reports do not specify when the employment terminations will take effect.
