Norse Atlantic Airways outlines initial US plans

Norse Atlantic Airways (Oslo Gardermoen) has applied for a foreign air carrier permit (FACP) and an exemption to launch transatlantic services from Oslo Gardermoen to three second-tier airports in the United States starting in the summer 2022 scheduling season.

According to the filing, the start-up plans to use its B787s to connect the Norwegian capital with Fort Lauderdale Int’l in Florida, Ontario in the Los Angeles metro area, and Newburgh in the New York metro area.

Mindful of the acrimonious, drawn-out process Norwegian Group encountered with US trade unions during its application drive, Norse Atlantic Airways went to significant lengths to assure the US Department of Transportation that it had a different and more inclusive hiring policy.

“Norse Atlantic takes pride in its relationship with labor and was pleased to jointly announce in May 2021 that it had entered into a historic pre-hire agreement for hundreds of US flight attendants with the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO (AFA),” it said, quoting positive feedback both from the US Association of Flight Attendants and the Norwegian Pilots Association. It said it would employ staff directly rather than via intermediaries and under Norwegian and American labour laws, depending on the base.

Opposition from American unions derailed the FACP application of Norwegian Long Haul/Norwegian Air International, Norwegian Group’s Irish units, for more than three years. The labour organisations objected to the Norwegian carrier employing staff under Irish and other non-Scandinavian and non-US laws, accusing it of shopping for “flags of convenience” to lower wages. Eventually, Norwegian Air International secured its FACP in 2016 after the involvement of the European Commission.

Norse Atlantic Airways is currently in the process of securing its AOC in Norway which it expects by November 2021. In summer 2022, the carrier plans to operate twelve B787-9s and three B787-8s. British unions recently revealed that the airline is also plotting services from London Gatwick to the United States, although Norse Atlantic’s DOT filing does not mention any such routes. The airline has already confirmed it will also be applying for a UK operator’s licence and AOC.