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Date Published: 14/06/2021
ARCHIVED - Norwegian airline reaches agreement to reopen its hubs in Malaga and Alicante
The airline Norwegian will resume flights to Malaga and Alicante in June.
Norwegian Air has reached an agreement with the unions representing its crews to maintain 232 jobs at its bases in Malaga and Alicante, allowing them to reopen.
In March the company initiated pre-bankruptcy proceedings following a major drop in its operations during the pandemic, and has since been involved in negotiations with the unions representing crews and other airline staff over restructuring plans which required the loss of 1,191 jobs in Spain.
The airline has now finally reached a compromise which will allow its bases in Malaga and Alicante to reopen this summer after reducing the required number of redundancies to 800.
The move means that airline will begin operating again on June 28 with one aircraft based at each airport.
The company’s plan to stay in business also includes adding two further aircraft at each base in the summer of 2022 in an attempt to maintain as many jobs as possible.
According to the company, those who have lost their jobs will now receive pay of thirty days per year worked, ten days more than the legal minimum of 20 set by law. Meanwhile, the airline is creating a job bank so that those crewmembers who have lost their jobs can come back to the company if it increases its routes in Spain.
Those keeping their jobs have also been offered guarantees over their salary and jobs as part of the agreement between the airline and the unions.
Spain and the Nordic countries are now the only two areas where Norwegian will maintain operations, showing the importance of its position in the Spanish travel sector.
Spain’s government is currently pushing to reopen international travel again after the tourism sector saw a major drop during the pandemic. The Covid certificate programme is now being rolled out across Spain while the country also began allowing UK nationals into Spain without a vacination and non-Schengen border nationals to enter Spain as long as they are fully vaccinated.
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