Norwegian (Oslo Gardermoen) has signed a deal with China Construction Bank Leasing International DAC (CCBLI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the world's largest bank, China Construction Bank Corporation, to assume joint ownership of a large fleet of aircraft the airline has ordered from Airbus, the carrier revealed on October 24.

Norwegian’s Arctic Aviation Assets unit will own 30% of the new joint venture, while CCBLI will own the remaining 70%. Under the terms of the agreement, the venture will purchase from Arctic an initial twenty-seven A320neo to be delivered from 2020 to 2023, Norwegian said. The airline currently also has thirty A321neo(LR)s on order.

The purpose of the company is to finance, own, and lease aircraft that Norwegian has ordered, in an effort to strengthen the carrier's balance sheet. CCBLI will finance the aircraft that are now being transferred to the jointly owned company. The deal will cut Norwegian’s financial liabilities by NOK13.7 billion kroner (USD1.5 billion), the carrier said.

"This is one of many important measures for Norwegian to deliver on the strategy of moving from growth to profitability," said acting CEO and CFO Geir Karlsen. "The company we have now established together is an important first step on the road to building a strong strategic partnership between our two companies.”

The move emerged on the same day that Norwegian announced improved third-quarter results, with profit before tax rising 38% year-on-year to NOK2.2 billion (USD238 million).

Meanwhile, Norwegian continues to suffer from the global grounding of the B737 MAX aircraft. It is currently in possession of eighteen inactive B737-8s with 89 to be delivered, according to ch-aviation fleets.

Three of these are in the fleet of Norwegian Air Sweden (Stockholm Arlanda), which was forced to temporarily halt operations between May 5 and June 6 because of the capacity cut. However, the Swedish subsidiary has taken on its first seven B737-800s, which are already active.

Also to ease the capacity shortage during the winter, Norwegian's Irish subsidiary Norwegian Air International (Dublin International) will wet-lease B737-700 equipment from Denmark's Jet Time (2006) (Copenhagen Kastrup) from October 27 to December 31, the main routes being from Helsinki Vantaa to Stockholm Arlanda, Copenhagen Kastrup, London Gatwick, Oslo Gardermoen, and Oulu with the frequencies varying week by week. Further assistance will come from DAT (Denmark) (DX, Kolding), according to Check-In.dk, in the form of A320-200s as well as the Danish carrier's single MD-82 and MD-83.