Irish court clears Norwegian Air restructuring for take-off

Ireland’s High Court cleared the way on Friday for Norwegian Air to raise new capital and emerge from bankruptcy protection in Ireland and Norway in May by approving the airline’s restructuring scheme. Norwegian’s survival plan, announced last year, puts a definitive end to its long-haul business, leaving a slimmed-down airline focusing on Nordic and European routes. “We can now go forward with the reconstruction in Norway and initiate a capital raise,” CE Jacob Schram said in a statement following the ruling. The Irish court made the ruling, a key milestone in the airline’s battle to survive the coronavirus pandemic which has decimated air travel, after none of its creditors challenged the proposed restructuring during a two-day hearing. A key condition of the scheme is that Norwegian raises at least 4.5b crowns ($524m) from new shares and hybrid capital, of which Norway’s government has said it is willing to contribute 1.5b crowns. Justice Michael Quinn told the court that there was “sufficient confidence” that the investment could be secured. The court-appointed official who drew up the restructuring scheme indicated on Thursday that he believed Norwegian was at an advanced stage in talks with investors and was likely to secure the required funding. “This is a demanding and ongoing process, however, the result of the court rulings today enforces our beliefs of a positive final outcome. We are looking forward to and are preparing for a post-pandemic world, without travel restrictions and open borders,” Norwegian’s Schram said.<br/>