Norwegian Air enters agreement to end 36 aircraft leases. Credit: Andrew W. Sieber via Flickr.

Low-cost carrier Norwegian Air has reportedly entered an agreement with its lessors to end 36 aircraft leases.

The move is part of the company’s restructuring process and seeks to reduce aircraft and debt.

Last year, Norwegian Air received protection from bankruptcy in both Norway and Ireland.

With most of its assets registered in the two countries, the airline reveals that the restructuring process proceeded as planned and is expected to be completed in the second quarter.

The process in Ireland is set to conclude by 16 April.

Norwegian Air plans to reduce its fleet from 140 to 53 aircraft, as well as exit the long-haul market and focus on the Nordic and European network.

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In its fourth-quarter report presented last week, Norwegian Air booked an impairment loss of Nkr12.8bn ($1.50bn) related to owned and leased aircraft, as well as pre-delivery payments on terminated aircraft orders.

Norwegian CEO Jacob Schram said: “Despite the difficulties the pandemic has caused, there is a great fighting spirit and engagement within the company, and together we will build new Norwegian when we exit the reconstruction processes.

“Now, we are doing everything we can to emerge as a more financially secure and competitive airline with an improved customer offering, and as soon as Europe begins to reopen, we will be ready to welcome more customers on board.”