HELSINKI, 6 July. /TASS/. Norwegian airline Norwegian doubled passenger traffic in June compared to the same month in 2020, the carrier announced on Tuesday.

"In June, 225,509 passengers flew with Norwegian, which is approx. 100% more than at the same time last year. Compared with June 2020, the total capacity (ASK) has increased by 182%, and passenger traffic (RPK) up 102%. The load factor in June was 62.9%, a decrease of 25 percentage points compared with last year," the company said.

"June traffic results still show the impact of low demand due to reduced flying schedules and government-imposed travel restrictions. However, we have seen a continued month-on-month increase in bookings as countries ease restrictions. As a result, we have resumed flights to a number of key European destinations, we will continue to adjust and increase our network and schedules as demand rises." Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian, commented on the results.

Earlier, the carrier said it expected demand for air travel in Europe to return to pre-pandemic levels only by 2023 or 2024. The airline's passenger traffic fell by almost 99% in spring 2020 amid the spread of the coronavirus. In 2021, passenger traffic indicators began to gradually improve as flight restrictions were lifted.