Norwegian Air does not expect to be able to return Boeing's grounded 737 Max 8 to service in 2019, Deputy CEO Geir Karlsen told Reuters on Monday.

Norwegian is continuing discussions with Boeing regarding compensation for the costs that resulted from the global flight ban on the Boeing 737 Max 8 after two planes of the model crashed in a short period of time, resulting in 346 fatalities.

”We actually don't plan to have any Max in the air in 2019,” he said.

At the time of the flight suspension, the Norwegian airline had 18 planes of the model in operation, with a further 92 planes on Boeing's order book.

The company stated in July that the Max 8 fleet was included in the plans to return to service in October, according to Reuters.

Source: news agency direkt-di.se