The startup Norse Atlantic Airways continues to arm itself to start its commercial operations. Today, it managed to secure six Boeing 787-9s with the lessor BOC Aviation Limited.

Created by Bjørn Kjos, founder and former CEO of Norwegian together with Bjørn Kise and Bjørn Tore Larsen, also former directors of the Norwegian company, this announcement joins the leasing agreement made in March with AerCap for six Boeing 787-9s and three 787-8.

Norse Atlantic’s fifteen Boeing 787s are ex-Norwegian Air Shuttle, which due to the restructuring it had to go through significantly reduced its fleet, keeping only 50 Boeing 737 NGs.

«We are pleased to expand our leasing relationships to include a lessor of the caliber of BOC Aviation as we grow our fleet and continue to build our organization for takeoff,» said Bjørn Tore Larsen, founder and CEO of Norse.

«We are delighted to welcome Norse as a new customer as we support the airline’s plans to serve the low-cost intercontinental market with fuel-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliners,» said Robert Martin, CEO of BOC Aviation.

The statement describes that Norse has secured a leasing agreement with attractive rates and payment terms. In addition, it has a period of approximately 16 years per aircraft, AerCap aircraft have a similar commitment.

With this, very favorable conditions are visualized to obtain aircraft through leasing, where companies take advantage of the low-cost situation.

Under BOC Aviation and AerCap delivery schedules, Norse plans to receive the first aircraft by December 2021, with the last aircraft delivered by the end of the first quarter of 2022.

«We are looking forward to welcoming customers from both sides of the Atlantic aboard these next-generation aircraft as soon as the demand for transatlantic travel resumes,» concluded Bjørn Tore Larsen.

Unlike Norwegian, which had a short-haul intra-European network where it fed the connections of its Boeing 787s on long-haul routes, Norse Atlantic Airways will focus solely on point-to-point intercontinental routes.

According to the company’s plans, the initial links are popular transatlantic destinations such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Paris and Oslo. But the 15-aircraft deal hints that there could be more.

However, it will depend on the travel restrictions that still exist between the United States and the European Union.

Americans can visit Europe, although Europeans cannot enter the United States. The demand is greater towards the Old Continent during the summer, but in winter the situation is the other way around, a time that Norse Atlantic plans to start, which can generate great challenges for the company.

The arduous path of the new Nordic startup continues, given how challenging the low-cost transatlantic business model is in times of pandemic, which has pulverized international long-haul flights. According to Eurocontrol, the transatlantic market between Europe and the United States has decreased by 58%.

Another of Norse’s concerns was the stark situation with the American unions, given the precedent with Norwegian. In May 2021, they agreed to hire 700 flight attendants based in the United States and will agree to fully unionize all their crew members, as well as include starting salaries and industry-leading job protections, and  medical care among other key benefits.