The carrier, reborn during the pandemic after mothballing its long-haul operation out of Gatwick, on Friday (12 May) revealed a pre-tax loss of NOK 992 million (£74 million) and an operating loss of NOK 916 million (£68 million).

It ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of NOK 8.6 billion (£641 million) and an operational fleet comprising 72 aircraft. Norwegian carried 3.8 passengers during Q1, up from 2.2 million a year earlier, on a load factor of 80.9%.

"This quarter is a strong demonstration of our ability to adjust capacity to seasonal fluctuations in demand and to prepare well for the busy summer travel season ahead," said Norwegian Air chief executive Geir Karlsen.

Karlsen continued: "Ahead of the summer season, we have phased in 11 latest generation aircraft and welcomed many new colleagues. I am very glad we will not depend on wet-lease capacity this summer. Instead, we will be able to serve our customers entirely with our own aircraft and crew."

The carrier has taken on 150 new employees at Olso’s Gardermoen airport after setting up its own customer-facing ground-handling operation. "This makes us well prepared, both on the ground and in the air, to welcome all passengers onboard in what I believe will be the strongest summer ever for the airline,” Karlsen added.

Norwegian said summer booking "continued to be encouraging".