Norwegian Air to cut 4,000 flights, lay off half its employees

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian Air will scrap 4,000 flights and temporarily lay off around half its employees due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the company said on Thursday.

Travel restrictions and falling demand due to the virus are increasingly hurting the airline industry’s ability to fly.

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered sweeping restrictions on travel from the European mainland for the next 30 days in a bid to halt the spread of coronavirus.

A pioneer in transatlantic budget travel since 2013, the ban is another severe blow to Norwegian, the largest foreign airline serving the New York region and several other U.S. cities.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Victoria Klesty; editing by David Evans)