Investors fret over Norwegian Air’s rapid growth

Earlier this year, Norwegian Air Shuttle painted the face of Freddie Laker, the late pioneer of “no-frills” flying, on one of its planes as a signal of its ambitions to crack the low-cost long-haul transatlantic market. The fast-growing group has become a disruptive force within the European airline industry over the past few years, leading the charge in bringing down the cost of long-haul flying and forcing rivals to respond with their own budget services. But analysts and investors are starting to worry about Norwegian’s rapid expansion, after a difficult year. “They are not profitable this year in what is a very good year for the airline industry,” says Andrew Lobbenberg, an aviation analyst at HSBC. “The underlying business is losing considerable sums of money. This is not sustainable, something has to change.” <br/>