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Bloomberg
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA secured approval of its restructuring plans from an Irish High Court judge, paving the way for the discount carrier to exit insolvency and raise up to $582 million in fresh capital.
The examinership process won legal backing after earlier gaining the support of the majority of Norwegian’s creditors and shareholders.
The company will now submit the same proposal to a creditor vote in its home country, prior to a final court ruling there, it said in a statement.
Norwegian Air was struggling even before the coronavirus crisis stunted air travel after going head-to-head with discounters including Ryanair Holdings Plc in Europe and taking on British Airways in the trans-Atlantic markets.
The carrier was granted creditor protection in Ireland by dint of its divisions based there, after failing to secure further funding from the government in Oslo. Norwegian aims to raise fresh capital by May and said it will remain in examinership until then.
Chief Executive Officer Jacob Schram plans to concentrate solely on short-haul operations, though Norse Atlantic ASA, a separate company founded by executives with ties to Norwegian, has said it will revive the trans-Atlantic model with some of the same Boeing Co. 787 planes.