IAG International Airlines Group has announced that it does not intend to make an offer for Norwegian (Oslo Gardermoen) and that it will, in due course, dispose of its 3.93% stake in the Scandinavian low-cost carrier.

The announcement comes after IAG chief executive Willie Walsh told a dinner hosted by The Aviation Club UK last week that the consortium would not be lured into a bidding war for Norwegian.

"I like Norwegian. I like the brand. I like what Bjorn (CEO Bjorn Kjos) had done," he was quoted by the Irish Independent.

IAG had made two previous offers to acquire Norwegian outright but on both occasions, they were rejected on the grounds they undervalued the airline and its potential.

Spanish newspaper Expansion said in August last year that IAG had offered nearly EUR4 billion euro (USD4.6 billion) for Norwegian back in April 2018, including EUR1.5 billion in cash to acquire shares and EUR2.32 billion to refinance Norwegian's debt.

For its part, the Scandinavian LCC has initiated a far-reaching cost-cutting exercise - Focus2019 - aimed at generating savings of at least NOK2 billion kroner (USD229 million) in 2019.

Norwegian has now set about negotiating with unions over staff cuts having already announced plans to close B737 bases in Spain, Italy, and the United States over the course of 2019.

However, in Ireland, Norwegian's bid to cut 150 staff, reduce remaining crews' salaries, and reduce aircraft based at Dublin International from the current six to at most two, encountered stiff resistance during meetings this week.

According to the Irish Times, unions have told management that they want it to focus first on achieving savings by means other than redundancies. Unions also want Norwegian to deal with them collectively rather than on a country-by-country basis. They have also demanded an independent audit of the airline's finances.

The newspaper also cited an internal company communique that pointed to Norwegian reducing the number of Air Operator's Certificates (AOC) it holds but did not mention any specific licences by country.