Norse Atlantic plots more flights to US as fuel prices ‘slowly’ reduce

Norse Atlantic Airways may add more transatlantic flights after cutting back capacity by almost a third in July due to high fuel prices.

Passenger carryings across its own network and aircraft out on charter fell by 32% year on year to 203,712.

The long-haul low-cost carrier ran special flights to the World Cup in the US for Norway and England supporters.

The end of the month saw the conclusion of a wet-lease deal with Indian airline IndiGo with an early return of six Boeing 787 Dreamliners – half of its fleet - and the start of a formal process which could lead to a sale, takeover or strategic partnership.

Releasing July figures, a statement said: “Due to persistently high fuel prices, Norse continued to optimise route planning to save cost with total available capacity down 31% year-over-year. 

“The Norse product remains attractive with a total load factor approaching 99%, well above the 2025 comparative figure.” 

Chief executive Eivind Roald said: “Norse delivered record unit revenue for the second consecutive month on the back of our attractive product, strong customer demand for direct transatlantic routes and our highly popular Fifa World Cup flights.

“This was reflected in full flights and higher average fares in our own network, while ACMI/charter utilisation remained stable.” 

He added: “Our airline on demand strategy enables us to respond quickly to market changes. We leveraged this positioning when we rapidly launched dedicated flights from London and Oslo to the US, flying English and Norwegian fans to follow their national teams during the Fifa World Cup.

“With fuel prices slowly trending downward and demand remaining strong, we see an opportunity to increase capacity on our own network in the coming months, which may include adding more US flights to New York and Orlando.”