Norwegian Air reopens base at Helsinki Airport

Norwegian Airways has started recruitment of more than 150 air crew that will be based at Helsinki Airport as part of the preparations for the summer season, said the airlines in a press release on Thursday.

About 100 cabin crew and 50 pilots will be ready to operate 26 of Europe’s most popular destinations that the company will serve from Helsinki Airport during the summer season.

“I am extremely pleased that we are able to reopen our base in Helsinki. We see a very positive development in the Finnish market with booking numbers increasing steadily as travel restrictions are easing in Finland and across Europe. With the 150 new people in Helsinki we confirm yet again that we are back in Finland, and I know all of them are looking forward to welcoming our passengers on board,” said Geir Karlsen, Chief Executive Officer of the Norwegian Airways.

The newly hired crew start working on a rolling basis over the coming months – March, April and May – as they undergo the necessary trainings before they can welcome the passengers onboard as part of their active duty.

The 150 will be the first air crew with Norwegian based in Helsinki since April 2020 when the pandemic hit the global aviation industry. Norwegian received almost 2000 applications for the open positions.

Since June 2021 and the first lifting of travel restrictions, the rate of employment has been high at Norwegian and the company has reopened bases in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim.

In March 2022, Norwegian operates 14 routes from Helsinki Airport, including the two domestic routes to Oulu and Rovaniemi.

During the summer season Norwegian will gradually scale up, almost doubling the number of available routes to a total of 26 of Europe’s most popular destinations directly from Helsinki Airport at the peak of the summer.