Norse Atlantic, the new Norwegian airline that’s set out to fill some of the gap left by the collapse of low-cost trans-Atlantic operator Norwegian, has dropped hints about a fairly rapid expansion of U.S. destinations.
That may be good news for potential travelers looking for low-cost trips to Europe, but it may also be a potentially dangerous move forward by the new airline, which only flew its first route to the U.S. a week and a half ago: One of the main causes of Norwegian’s collapse, even before the pandemic, was its over-rapid expansion.
Norse shares with its predecessor a corps of former Norwegian execs and a fleet of 787s, just as Norwegian flew, and plans to make London Gatwick one of its main bases, once it gets a UK Air Operator Certificate. In the meantime, it’s flying from Oslo, stopping at Gatwick on a ‘fifth freedom’ basis.
While Norse originally indicated it would be cautious in its expansion, it is now indicating a fairly rapid growth with routes planned to San Francisco, Ontario in the Los Angeles Area, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore-Washington and, in a surprise move, Rockford, Illinois. Rockford, 85 miles from Chicago, is trying to position itself as a ‘relief’ airport for Chicago.
