Speaking to TTG just weeks after IAG surprised Norwegian by taking a 4.61% stake and proceeding to lodge at least two separate offers for the company – which were rejected – Lars Sande, senior vice-president sales and distribution, insisted the interest was welcome.

“For us working here, it’s business as usual,” said Sande. “It is of course a bonus to have a great company like IAG go in and buy shares. That tells us that we have an interesting product that they and others are interested in. I would say it’s very positive.”

He added: “Two offers have come in from IAG and they weren’t good enough – that’s more or less what’s been said.

“The CEO [Bjorn Kjos] said we are about to sow the seeds and we should be able to harvest even more when we have set the long-haul operation. Our value should just increase when we are more mature in that way.”

Just this week Norwegian confirmed to TTG it would be launching a new long-haul route and increasing existing frequencies from Gatwick in the coming days.

Sande added that he did not believe it had “always been the plan” for Norwegian to sell.

“Our CEO said he hadn’t thought of selling – we’re having a good time growing the airline – and it has never been in his mind to grow the business and then sell.”

Asked what he would say to anyone questioning the airline’s future, Sande added: “If we are acquired by IAG it might be business as usual as well, because if you look at when they purchased Vueling, nothinghappened with the product.”