There is less than a month until Norse Atlantic takes off on its first commercial service. The long-haul, B787-operating carrier follows in Norwegian's footsteps, which ditched long-haul, widebody operations as part of a wholesale reorganization to survive.

Everything to prove

Speaking at Routes Europe in Norway, Norse Atlantic's founder and CEO, Bjørn Tore Larsen, said that long-haul, low-cost "is a niche that we thought was worth trying." Larsen's approach is straightforward:

We need very low costs, low fares, a product that people want to buy, and to be very disciplined.

Crucial for low costs is the access to new or almost new B787s (and therefore with excellent fuel consumption) at prices Larsen said "no one has seen before." It has 15 B787s, mainly the larger -9. "We must make a profit with these 15 aircraft." It does not intend to grow further until, and if, that is achieved. And only then when it can acquire more equipment at low prices.

Read more: Norse Atlantic's First 4 Routes

"We have everything to prove," Larsen admitted. "There's a huge demand for non-stop flights [in contrast to PLAY's change-of-plane service via Iceland]. But can we execute where customers like us and be profitable?"

Routes Europe Norse Atlantic CEO
Following the exit of Norwegian, Larsen said that the gap for long-haul, low-cost was an opportunity he hadn't seen before. Photo: James Pearson - Simple Flying.

Stay aware: Sign up for my weekly new routes newsletter.

Strong bookings so far

Norse Atlantic put its initial four routes – Oslo to JFK, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, and Orlando International – on sale at the end of April. "Bookings have been fantastic so far... it has been two weeks now and really great."

He would, of course, say that. More significant, perhaps, is who is booking:

More than half of our customers have been Americans. We're very popular with them despite being less known by them.

Norse 787
In time, Norse Atlantic will fly long-haul from London Gatwick and Paris CDG. Photo: Norse Atlantic Airways

Discover more aviation news.

Why JFK and Los Angeles?

Eagle-eyed readers will note that Norse Atlantic stated in its submission to the US Department of Transportation that it'd serve Stewart (for Greater New York), Fort Lauderdale (for wider Miami), and Ontario (for Greater Los Angeles).

While Fort Lauderdale is part of its network, it won't yet fly to Stewart or Ontario, despite being significantly cheaper and quieter secondary airports with a far higher likelihood of financial incentives.

Larsen said:

I love these smaller airports... they're great airports. We will go to Stewart and Ontario in time, but, for now, we're sticking with JFK and Los Angeles.

But why? The answer, Larsen said, is freight, which can make the difference between profit and loss for long-haul services. "Freight is now five times higher than we had expected it to be."

He says that Stewart and Ontario (a major domestic freight airport) cannot handle this quantity of international freight, hence shifting to JFK/Los Angeles. But I wonder if that's really the case for Ontario, or whether other commercial factors drove the decision-making.

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