• 

  Oslo Gardermoen Airport

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  OSL/ENGM

  Country:

  Norway

  CEO:

  Abraham Foss

  Passenger Count :

  9,021,729 (2020)

  Runways :

  01L/19R - 3,600m (11,811ft) | 01R/19L - 2,950m (9,678ft)

Startup Norse Atlantic has revealed its first four routes, and they aren't entirely as expected. It'll begin Oslo (its home base) to New York JFK, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando International, and Los Angeles using B787s, its only type.

Seven months ago, Norse Atlantic applied to the US Department of Transportation to serve Fort Lauderdale (for Greater Miami), Stewart (Greater New York City), and Ontario (Greater Los Angeles).

The suggestion of such secondary airports was highly intriguing, and it was unlikely that it'd actually choose them. Indeed, it has chosen primary airports instead. Fort Lauderdale is, of course, already a large, busy, and well-known facility, albeit mainly domestically.

While secondary airports, like Stewart, are considerably cheaper, far less congested, enable quicker turns, and are far more likely to offer significant incentives, awareness of them is much lower. The focus on JFK and Los Angeles, while more costly, will drive more traffic and higher yields.

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The first four routes

Norse Atlantic will take off on June 14th. That's in less than two months – very little advanced notice, especially for a brand-new operator. But it will, of course, enable the absolute peak summer to be served.

The carrier will operate the following. The first route to begin is Oslo to JFK; it has flight numbers N01 outbound and N02 inbound.

1. New York JFK: starting June 14th, 2x weekly in the first week; from $113 one-way, including only an under-the-seat bag. Rises to 1x daily from July 4th
2. Fort Lauderdale: beginning June 18th 2x weekly in the first week; from $170 one-way, including only an under-the-seat bag. Rises to 3x weekly from June 22nd
3. Orlando: starting July 5th, 3x weekly in the first week; from $171 one-way, including only an under-the-seat bag. Remains 3x weekly
4. Los Angeles: beginning August 9th, 3x weekly in the first week; from $205 one-way, including only an under-the-seat bag. Remains 3x weekly

Analysis of mid-August schedules shows that three aircraft will be needed (plus any spare). That's somewhat influenced by aircraft remaining overnight in Los Angeles, even applying to its Tuesday departure to California. It leaves Norway at 06:30 and arrives at 08:40 local. After 29 hours on the ground, it departs for Oslo at 13:45 on Wednesdays.

Norwegian served all

Norse Atlantic follows in the footsteps of Norwegian, just like Iceland's PLAY was created from the ashes of WOW. PLAY inaugurated its first US route on April 13th.

Norwegian operated from Oslo to Fort Lauderdale and JFK between 2013 and 2020, Los Angeles between 2014 and 2020, and Orlando from 2014 to 2019. That they operated for years suggests strong enough underlying performance.

While seat load factor is just one performance measure, the DOT's T-100 data shows that they all averaged between 89% and 91% across the years they were served. What fares enabled that, and how much ancillary revenue was generated, is a different story.

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No direct competition

Norse Atlantic will have no head-to-head competition to JFK, Los Angeles, Orlando, or Fort Lauderdale. And there's minimal indirect competition too.

It will compete indirectly with SAS's 1x daily to Newark, obviously driven in part by United's Star Alliance hub. And SAS will return to Miami in October, with 2x weekly flights. South Florida is, of course, especially known as a winter market.

Will you be flying Norse Atlantic? Let us know in the comments.