Norse Atlantic får skeptisk mottakelse - One Mile at a Time

 

Norse Atlantic Airways: This Startup Sounds Familiar

Wow guys, in this post I wanted to talk about an innovative airline concept that was just announced. Okay, so the airline will be based in Norway, but it will operate out of other points in Europe as well. And it will fly long haul, especially across the Atlantic. And it will operate with a low cost model. And it will fly Boeing 787s. Sound familiar?

In this post:

• A new Norwegian long haul airline
• Alrighty then…
• Bottom line

A new Norwegian long haul airline

Norse Atlantic Airways is a newly announced airline startup, and it sounds like it’s pretty likely to launch operations:

• The airline has been founded by Bjorn Kljos, Bjørn Kise, and Bjørn Tore Larsen (that’s a lot of Bjorns/Bjørn — reminds me of the Saudia flight where I had captain Mohammed, first officer Mohammed, and cabin supervisor Mohammed), who own 90% of the airline combined; they’re industry veterans who previously held top positions at Norwegian Air Shuttle and OSM Aviation
• The founders are in talk with lessors to lease 12 former Norwegian Boeing 787s; apparently the leases of nine aircraft have already been secured, while three leases are pending
• The airline plans to use 787s to operate transatlantic routes
• In Europe the airline would operate out of cities like London, Oslo, and Paris, and in the US the airline would operate out of cities like Los Angeles, Miami, and New York
• The airline would launch operations by December 2021 (December is a fantastic time to launch transatlantic leisure flights, eh?) 
• The airline would collaborate with airlines like Norwegian to provide feed
• The airline has already raised $24 million from shareholders, and eventually wants to be listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange

Norse Atlantic Airways would fly former Norwegian 787s

Alrighty then…

At the beginning of 2021 it was announced that Norwegian would discontinue long haul flights, as the airline is in bankruptcy protection. Norwegian was struggling for years even pre-pandemic, and has basically already had its nine lives.

So the intentions here are pretty clear — some investors (including a former Norwegian executive) with a clear balance sheet and trying to take over where Norwegian left off when it comes to long haul. There’s only one small problem — history has shown that low cost long haul transatlantic airlines generally don’t work. Now, to give some credit to this idea in general, or perhaps express some hope:

• Having an airline like Norse Atlantic Airways would be great for consumers, since it will keep legacy airlines in check, and will keep fares low
• The general timeline for launching this airline isn’t terrible, especially if the plan is to launch in about a year; the airline can probably get a great deal on planes and labor, and hopefully within a year there will be a significant recovery, with several competitors having gone out of business or scaled back during the pandemic
• The biggest issue with a transatlantic low cost carrier is how seasonal traffic is, as Norwegian could make money in summer, but was losing a significant amount the rest of the year; is there any way that Norse Atlantic Airways could learn from Norwegian’s mistakes and do a better job with a counter seasonal route network?

This is going to be an interesting one to watch…

Transatlantic low cost carriers are great for consumers 

Bottom line

Norse Atlantic Airways is the newest airline startup. The airline essentially plans to take over where Norwegian left off with its long haul network — the airline will fly former Norwegian 787s across the Atlantic using a low cost business model.

Only time will tell if this airline actually takes off. My favorite Richard Branson quote certainly comes to mind with this — “the quickest way to become a millionaire in the airline business is to start out as a billionaire.”

What do you make of Norse Atlantic Airways?