The new venture by Bjørn Kjos, founder of Norwegian Air, is getting closer to debut. Low cost carrier Norse Atlantic Airways signed a leasing agreement with AerCap to receive nine Boeing 787s.
With operations scheduled to begin in December 2021, Norse intends to operate in destinations such as New York, Miami and Los Angeles from Oslo, London and Paris.
The business model, however, causes fears after all is precisely where Norwegian Air failed, long-haul and low-cost flights. To make the flight network viable, Dreamliner jets must have a high density seating configuration and operating costs must be very low, including crew salaries.
According to the airline, the panorama brought by the pandemic has made rates and terms of payment attractive, allowing a flexible implementation of its operation. The initial fleet will consist of six Boeing 787-9 with an average age of 12 years and three Boeing 787-8 with an average age of eight years.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with a market leader in AerCap to lease our initial fleet of Dreamliners. Norse Atlantic Airways looks forward to providing our passengers with comfortable, affordable, intercontinental travel aboard these state-of-the-art aircraft,” said Bjørn Tore Larsen, Chief Executive Officer and Kjos partner at the company.
The initiative comes shortly after Norwegian announces the end of long-haul routes and the return of the huge fleet of Dreamliner jets. The carrier, instead, will focus only on flights within Europe in order to recover the enormous losses accumulated in recent years.
