The low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle reopened its base in Barcelona, ​​Spain, on May 1, 2023. For the time being, only two Boeing 737-800 will be operated from there. 65 employees are stationed there.

Barcelona was once even a long-distance base. But in the course of the corona pandemic and the insolvency proceedings that were being conducted in various countries, the long haul was completely withdrawn. Most bases outside of Scandinavia have also been closed. It was the same for Barcelona.

After Alicante and Malaga, these have been reopened. This is no coincidence, because the Spanish staff are cheaper for the carrier than employees who are stationed in Sweden or Norway, for example. The destinations currently offered from Barcelona are Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger, Copenhagen, Aalborg, Stockholm-Arlanda, Gothenburg and Helsinki.

Before the corona pandemic, the carrier stationed four Boeing 787s and five B737s in Barcelona. The base was also opened all year round. The reopening will be much smaller, because for the time being it will be seasonal until the end of October 2023. With just 65 employees and two B737-800s, the company can no longer maintain its former size. As already mentioned: Norwegian is generally no longer active on long-haul routes.