Transatlantic startup Norse Atlantic Airways has applied to the US Transportation Department (DOT) for its UK subsidiary to begin serving the US market.
The long-haul low-cost airline, which launched commercial operations earlier this month, hopes to secure a foreign air carrier permit for Norse Atlantic UK, based at London Gatwick (LGW).
“Norse Atlantic UK’s proposed services will also create additional jobs, enhance air travel connectivity, contribute to national economies, increase tourism, and facilitate increased trade, to the benefit of both sides of the Atlantic,” the application said.
Norse has already secured slots at Gatwick and announced plans to launch its first routes from the airport in August. It hopes to begin serving New York John F. Kennedy (JFK) from Aug. 12, as well as opening a route to its home base in Oslo (OSL) on the same day.
In the DOT application, the airline said that Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO) would also make up its initial network from Gatwick, with flights to Ontario (ONT), San Francisco (SFO), Chicago Rockford (RFD) and Baltimore/Washington (BWI) starting “soon after.”
It added that further routes would be launched over time to more destinations in the US in order to meet passenger demand.
Norse Atlantic UK anticipates beginning US operations with eight Boeing 787-9 aircraft in a two-cabin configuration. The subsidiary is currently awaiting an air operator’s certificate from the UK CAA, which it expects to receive in the “next few weeks.”
“Norse Atlantic UK estimates some 592,556 customers will travel to the US from its London Gatwick base annually, contributing approximately $1.2 billion to the US economy in total spend,” the company said. “It is further estimated that Norse Atlantic UK’s proposed operations will support 10,480 US jobs in travel.”
Norse operated its first flight on June 14 between Oslo and New York JFK and started serving Fort Lauderdale from Norway’s capital on June 20. Flights between Oslo and Orlando will begin on July 5 and between Oslo and Los Angeles (LAX) on Aug. 9.
Earlier this month, the carrier also announced its intention to operate two routes from Berlin (BER) and secured slots at Dublin (DUB) and Dubai (DXB) airports for the winter 2022/23 season.
Speaking in May at Routes Europe 2022 in Bergen, CEO and major shareholder Bjørn Tore Larsen said there is a huge opportunity for low-cost transatlantic flights between Europe and the US, filling a void left by the exit of Norwegian Air Shuttle.
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