Norwegian could launch direct flight from Arctic Norway to USA
Can be the first direct intercontinental flight across the Atlantic from the Barents Region.
The budget carrier has already calculated ticket prices for a possible future route, estimated to be 3,500 kroner (€398) to 4,000 kroner (€455), reports Nord24, a online business paper with special focus on Northern Norway.
Norwegian operates a fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner for its long haul flights. The airliner is already operating tens of intercontinental flights out of Scandinavia and UK to destinations in North America and Asia.
CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, Bjørn Kjos, visited Tromsø yesterday were he told the audience how he has built the company. From the start in 2002 Norwegian has only a few Boeing 737 for domestic flights in Norway till today with more than 100 aircrafts and 250 more in order. Norwegian is today the third largest low-cost carrier in Europe.
Expanding routes
Norwegian has huge plans for expanding its intercontinental route network, not only from capitals like Stockholm and Oslo.
“We have primarily looked at airports in Western Norway, …but I would think we’re going to see flights between the US and Tromsø,” Bjørn Kjos says to Nord24.
He says the majority of customers not necessarily will be Norwegians, but likely more Americans that are looking for direct flights to Northern Norway.
Tromsø is interesting also because of its connections to Norway’s Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic, explains Kjos.
Tromsø airport is the largest in the Barents Region regarding numbers of passengers. Last year, the airport had more than two million passengers for the first time, according to statistics presented by Patchwork Barents, a portal for statistics that recently published the 2014 figures of arriving and departing passengers from all airports in the Barents Region.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Captain ignored co-pilot’s warnings before plane crash in Canadian Arctic, CBC News
Finland: Finnair adding more flights to Lapland, Yle News
Greenland: Air Greenland plans another summer of Iqaluit-Nuuk flights, CBC News
Iceland: Flights to Iceland to start next March from Edmonton, Canada, CBC News
Norway: Norwegian flies into aviation dispute with Russia, Barents Observer
Sweden: EU Sweden project may lead to ‘green’ flights at airports, Radio Sweden
Russia: Economic crisis hits airlines hard in Russia’s western Arctic, Barents Observer
United States: Tackling ‘frost boils’ on Alaska’s Arctic Highway, Alaska Dispatch
