Fuel, expansion costs ground Norwegian profits

OSLO, Feb 15 (AFP): Low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle said on Thursday that rising fuel prices and the cost of replacing aircaft and opening up new routes pushed it into the red last year.
Norwegian, Europe's third largest low-cost carrier after Ryanair and Easyjet, said in a statement it flew into a loss of nearly 300 million kroner (nearly 31 million euros, $38.7 million) in 2017 from net profit of 1.14 billion kroner the year before.
The numbers sent the airline's share price into a tailspin and it nosedived by more than nine per cent on the Oslo stock exchange.
"Significant costs related to increased fuel prices, wet lease and passenger care affect the results," Norwegian said, adding that it had carried out "major investments in 2017 to prepare for future growth".
Nevertheless, faced with a lack of personnel, Norwegian had to cancel many flights last summer while having multiple delays.