Norwegian low-cost carrier Flyr will reduce its capacity by 50% this winter to cut operating costs. It anticipates that the decrease in demand coupled with an increase in operating expenses will cause nearly half of its routes to become unprofitable until next spring. The airline has stated that the route reduction will help it cut $38 million in costs between November and March. In Spring 2023, it plans to gradually reintroduce all the suspended routes.

Cutting routes

The young airline began operations following the COVID-19 pandemic. This timing allowed the airline to see high demand levels upon startup, but it has grappled with high operating costs. The rise in fuel prices, labor shortages, inflation, and increased interest rate are a few reasons operating costs for airlines around the globe have continuously risen over the past year. Flyr was reasonably successful this past summer as travel demand was high. The predicted decrease in demand has led the company to believe that it will lose money if it does not suspend routes.

The CEO of Flyr, Tonje Wikstrøm Frislid, shared the company's decision to suspend many of its services. Frislid said,

"We are entering a demanding winter season where discretionary consumer spending is expected to decrease significantly following the recent interest rate hikes, high general cost inflation and record high energy prices. This is hard-hitting to the airline industry and Flyr as a Company, and will result in reduced demand for air travel.

"This, together with the lasting high jet-fuel prices, leaves us with no other option than to adjust our route offering for the coming winter season. Unfortunately, this also forces us to furlough several of our dear colleagues. However, our goal is to put in place voluntary arrangements to retain as many as possible. By implementing these measures, we will be well positioned to ramp-up with full force for the coming spring and summer,"

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Remaining flights

Despite cutting many flights, Flyr plans to continue operating its most popular routes. It will continue to offer flights to Las Palmas, Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Brussels, Malaga, Alicante, Berlin, and Nice throughout the winter. It will also offer domestic routes from Oslo to Trondheim and Bergen. It plans to provide select holiday routes in late December as well. Frislid stated,

"We have experienced satisfactory demand on our routes to European holiday destinations and will maintain a selection of popular destinations for the coming winter. At the same time, we must admit that it has taken longer than expected to build loyalty among business travellers on domestic routes in Norway, where the incumbent carriers maintain large market shares.

"Development of solutions for distribution through travel agencies, where the majority of business travellers book their flights, has also taken too long. Moreover, it has not been to our advantage that the government in Norway has contributed billions of NOK in covid-19 related financial aid to our main competitors,"

Summer demand

Once the snow begins to melt in the spring, Flyr intends to reopen these routes. The carrier expects more travel demand next summer than it experienced this summer. It hopes that it will not only be able to reopen the routes it currently flies but will be able to expand further. It plans to build a network and loyalty system large enough that it will not need to chop the number of flights in half next winter like it will this winter.

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