Flyr filed for bankruptcy last Wednesday (1 February) to become the second carrier, after British regional airline Flybe, to collapse this year.

Norwegian said Flyr employees were invited to apply for vacancies with Norwegian, with chief executive Geir Karlsen also pledging to help stranded passengers reach their destinations.

Off the back of a "strong sales campaign", Norwegian carried 1.1 million passengers in January – up 78% year-on-year – on a load factor of 78%. It operated an average of 62 aircraft in January, flying 99.5% of scheduled services.

Karlsen said demand was particularly strong for sunnier climes, with more people actively choosing to get away during "historically the quietest travel month of the year" than simply use January to book their summer holidays.

"People traditionally travel less in January, instead using this time of year to book their next travels," said Karlsen. "Nevertheless, we had close to full flights to warmer destinations this month.

"Our new year’s sales campaign resulted in more than one million sold seats, a satisfying start to this year’s ticket sales. We see the positive booking trend continues also after this sale. Many of our passengers are currently planning their travels for this year’s school breaks and long weekends in May."

Flyr sympathies

Norwegian will fly 300 routes this summer to 114 destinations, including several new destinations.

Following the collapse of Flyr, which failed to secure sufficient new funding to continue flying, Karlsen had a message for the airline’s staff and passengers.

"I strongly sympathise with the employees, customers and others affected by the situation," he said. "We would like to make sure stranded passengers reach their destinations, provided we have free seats available.

"We also invite employees that have been affected by the bankruptcy to apply to job vacancies at Norwegian."