Budget airline pledges to ramp up UK-US operations

A low-cost airline has pledged to serve more US destinations from Gatwick.

Norse Atlantic Airways announced that its UK subsidiary has been given the go-ahead to operate point-to-point flights between the West Sussex airport and the US.

The company said the Department of Transportation (DOT) in the US has proposed to grant it a foreign air carrier permit.

Norse began flying between Gatwick and New York in August, with return trips available from £255.

But aviation regulations mean it is forced to offer a connection with Norway for every flight.

The authorisation from the US will allow the company to run flights to and from the UK without the Norway connection, paving the way for it to expand its route network.

This could lead to Norse launching flights between Gatwick and US locations such as Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando from the end of March 2023.

Norse said the DOT found its subsidiary, Norse Atlantic UK, is a “financially and operationally sound business”, and it is in the interests of US citizens to allow it to serve the country.

An operating licence was issued by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority last month.

Norse chief executive Bjorn Tore Larsen said: “We are very thankful for the support that we have received on both sides of the Atlantic throughout our application.

“This milestone represents a huge step in creating competition in the transatlantic market that will benefit consumers, stimulate business travel and lead to job creation.

“We are pleased that we will continue to deliver on our pledge to democratise transatlantic travel and we look forward to expanding our point-to-point route network between London Gatwick and the US as part of our summer 2023 schedule.”

Norse’s first flight was from Oslo to New York in June.

It has a fleet of 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

The airline hopes to succeed where Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) failed.

NAS operated transatlantic flights with low fares but axed its long-haul operations in January 2021 due to heavy losses.

It was founded by Bjorn Kjos, who resigned as chief executive in July 2019 and holds a minority stake in Norse.