Norwegian's history in Barcelona has a date etched in its memory. The outbreak of the pandemic marked a turning point in the trajectory of an airline that had once ranked among the top 10 in terms of passengers in all of Spain and led traffic to the United States from El Prat Airport, with flights to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Miami, and Chicago. The Covid crisis completely paralyzed the tourism sector, especially the airline industry, leaving deep scars on this Norwegian low-cost carrier. Now, five years later, it is beginning to recover with new hires to respond to the reopening of destinations where the local market is starting to play a more prominent role.

After the member states of the European Union agreed a few weeks ago to allow airlines charge for hand luggage, the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has also taken a position in this direction. The TSJM has provisionally suspended the sanctions imposed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. on Ryanair and Norwegian airlines, which will be able to maintain their current baggage policy until a final ruling is issued. Approved at the end of last year, the fines for abusive practices were €107 million for Ryanair, the highest, and €1.6 million for Norwegian. Other airlines low cost Vueling, EasyJet, and Volotea were also fined.

Norwegian has informed its workforce it intends to lay off 1,191 workers throughout Spain. According to Union Sindical Obrera (USO) and Sepla, this number of people involves 85% of the staff of the company in the State. The unions also add that the decision has been taken after "more than a year benefiting from the furlough scheme". In addition, this massive layoff means the end of long-haul operations from Barcelona, as well as "a brutal cut in short-haul operations".