Budget airline Norwegian Air has said it will end flights between Ireland and the US next month, blaming the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max.

“We have concluded these routes are no longer commercially viable,” it said.

Norwegian, which has struggled to make a profit, said last month the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max plane could undo its plan to return to profitability.

Norwegian said all six routes from Dublin, Cork and Shannon to the US and Canada would end on 15 September.

Boeing’s 737 Max fleet was grounded after two fatal crashes, the first a Lion Air flight which crashed into the sea off Jakarta last year, and the second an Ethiopian Airlines’ flight which crashed shortly after take off from Addis Ababa in March.

In total 346 people were killed.