Norse Atlantic Gets Thumbs Up to Fly From Europe to the U.S.

Norwegian airline startup Norse Atlantic on Friday received approval from U.S. authorities to operate flights to the U.S., a "significant milestone" in its plan to launch flights this spring, the company said.

"The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) approved Norse Atlantic Airway's application for the operation of flights between Norway/The European Union and the United States," the company wrote in a statement.

In December, the fledgling airline, also known as Norse, received its Norwegian air operator's certificate and took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Norse plans to start commercial operations this spring, with the first flights connecting Oslo to select cities in the U.S., it added.

It is planning routes from New York, Los Angeles and Florida to European destinations including London, Paris and Oslo.

"We believe that transatlantic travel will resume with full force once the pandemic is behind us," Norse CEO and founder Bjoern Tore Larsen said in the statement.

Norse seeks to fill a gap left by the exit from long-distance services by Norwegian Air, which came close to collapse early in the pandemic and has since retrenched as part of a restructuring process.

(Reporting by Nora Buli. Editing by Mark Potter) for Skift.com