Norse Atlantic Airways has filed an application with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to operate services under a Norse Atlantic UK subsidiary, and has outlined plans for seven transatlantic routes from Gatwick.
The carrier is set to launch flights between Gatwick and New York JFK in August, temporarily using fifth freedom rights via Oslo under its current air operator certificate.
But Norse wants to significantly expand its routes between London and the US, with the filing stating that:
“Norse Atlantic UK is planning to offer a comfortable inflight experience, affordable fares, and a more environmentally friendly service to transatlantic passengers with initial services between London Gatwick and New York, Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO), and soon after between London Gatwick and Los Angeles (ONT), San Francisco (SFO), Chicago (RFD) and Washington DC (BWI) in the United States”.
Several of these services would be using secondary airports – Ontario International airport is located 38 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, while Chicago Rockford International is around 85 miles north of Chicago, and Baltimore / Washington International is around 30 miles northeast of Washington DC.
The filing added that “Norse Atlantic UK plans to further expand its service over time to other points in the United States to meet passenger demand”.
Norse said that it expects to receive an Air Operator Certificate from the UK Civil Aviation Authority for its UK subsidiary “in the next few weeks”, and anticipates beginning US operations in late 2022, with eight B787-9 aircraft.
The carrier added that it estimates some 592,556 customers will travel to the US from its London Gatwick base annually.
The press office for Norse Atlantic also provided Business Traveller with a short statement:
“We can confirm that we have submitted an application to the US DOT as part of the process of setting up our UK based AOC. Further details will be announced in due course following the completion of this process.”
The start-up carrier launched its first transatlantic flights from Oslo earlier this month, and recently announced plans to offer US routes from Berlin.
