The paint is drying on Norse Atlantic's first Boeing 787. On Sunday night, the airline released pictures of a just unwrapped glistening Dreamliner. The reveal comes less than a week after Norse Atlantic released renderings of its livery. Now, we can see the real thing.Last week, Norse Atlantic’s CEO, Bjorn Tore Larsen, revealed that the Vikings inspired the new Norse livery, commenting,

“We got the inspiration from the ships that the Vikings used when they navigated the seas 1,000 years ago… We kinda identify with the voyage that our predecessors took across the Atlantic, and our Dreamliners will therefore be our longships."

Norse's Dreamliners a nod to their Viking forefathers

No doubt the ride across the Atlantic on a Norse Dreamliner will be more comfortable than on a Viking longship. However, Norse Atlantic is making a nice nod to their forefathers by featuring a hook on the Dreamliner's tail. That hook is a stylized replication of the bow of a Viking-era wooden longship.

The plane (registration LN-LNO) is named after Raet National Park in Arendal, Norway. Norse Atlantic isn't yet saying when their first plane will start flying, or to where. The airline expects to have 15 Dreamliners in the air by the 2022 northern summer. Publicity from Norse Atlantic to date suggests European springboard airports will be Oslo, London, and Paris. On the other side of the Atlantic, New York, Los Angeles, and an unspecified city in Florida are flagged as likely destinations.

"Our plans are on track and operations will commence when travel restrictions are lifted and demand for transatlantic travel is back,” said CEO Bjørn Tore Larsen last week.

“Based on the current situation, we anticipate that all our 15 Dreamliners will be flying customers between Europe and the US next summer."

Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests.

Nice livery but Norse Atlantic comes under some unfriendly fire

Whether Norse Atlantic can succeed when Norwegian did not is hotly debated. But the people behind Norse Atlantic are savvy enough to hold back from launch dates and flight information until there is greater certainty surrounding transatlantic travel. Canceling flights and dealing with planeloads of disgruntled passengers is no way to baptize a new airline. As it stands, Norse faces some antagonism before it even takes flight.

The social media response to Norse Atlantic's first Dreamliner reveal has been mixed. While the livery is drawing admiration, the airline is struggling to shake off the Norwegian ghost.

"Great colors, look forward to seeing their route offer," said one person on Twitter. Others were less kind, emphasizing Norse's links with Norwegian.

"Are you really Norwegian Airlines but with a cooler name?" asked another person.

Norse-Atlantic-Boeing-787-revealed
Norse Atlantic hasn't yet confirmed when and where it will start flying. Photo: Norse Atlantic

"Absolute grifting & shafting of everyone formerly employed by Norwegian. A shameful example of modern-day corporate shafting. Will never, ever set foot in an NAA aircraft," posted another.

"What about #Norwegian workers still awaiting their salaries?" asked another.

Norse Atlantic anticipates employing 1,600 people by next summer. For their sake, most people would hope Norse succeeds. But there's clearly some ill-will from the Norwegian failure and the easy transition senior Norwegian executives have made to Norse Atlantic. It is a hurdle Norse will have to overcome.

What do you think? Does Norse Atlantic have a good prospect of success? What, if anything, are they doing wrong? Post a comment and let us know.