Norway’s Flyr takes delivery of first B737, outlines plans

Flyr (Oslo Gardermoen), Norway’s newest low-cost carrier, has outlined its initial network plans with its maiden commercial flight scheduled for June 30, 2021. The Erik Braathen-backed start-up will initially operate from its main base at Oslo Gardermoen to Tromsø (up to 19x weekly), Bodø (daily), and Harstad-Narvik (up to 12x weekly). Then, starting August 16, it will also connect the Norwegian capital with Trondheim (29x weekly) and Bergen (30x weekly). Flyr subsequently plans to begin international operations on August 21 with weekly flights from Oslo to Alicante and 2x weekly each to Nice and Malaga. The nascent carrier has already launched a closed pre-sale with tickets only available to subscribers of the company’s newsletter. Open sales are not expected to begin until Flyr completes its certification. Flyr plans to initially operate two B737-800 narrowbodies, with the first unit, LN-FGA (msn 40014), having recently been delivered. Flyr had said earlier this year that it planned to expand its fleet with more Boeing aircraft in autumn 2021. As previously reported, the start-up will enter a slightly less competitive market after Wizz Air (W6, Budapest) decided to end all of its Norwegian domestic routes by June 14, 2021. The Hungarian low-cost carrier cited regulatory backlash and what it termed “bullying by the authorities” as reasons. However, Wizz Air was a minor player compared to market leaders SAS Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian, which have a 59% market share by capacity between the two of them (with the bulk of the remaining capacity controlled by Widerøe, a regional specialist which, for the most part, does not directly compete with the two mainline operators).