Norwegian Air to end routes from Sweden, Denmark to US, Thailand

Norwegian Air is ending flights from Copenhagen and Stockholm to the US and Thailand due to weak demand and technical problems affecting the engines on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners, it said Wednesday. Flights between Oslo and the US would continue, while routes between Norway and Thailand were under review, it said, the latest initiative to cut costs and restore profits after rapid expansion left the carrier weighed down by debt. “Scandinavia isn’t big enough to maintain intercontinental flights from Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen,” Senior Vice President Commercial Matthew Wood said. Norwegian’s shares were down 2.2% at 1310 GMT, although shares in Nordic rival SAS, which has direct flights from Stockholm and Copenhagen to the United States, rose 2.7%. Norwegian has shaken up the transatlantic travel market with low fares, challenging major transatlantic carriers such as BA. But its profitability has suffered.<br/>