2013-05-30 — /travelprnews.com/ — Norwegian’s first long-haul flight took off from Oslo Airport Gardermoen Thursday afternoon, bound for New York’s JKF airport. “The launch of our intercontinental routes is an important milestone in Norwegian’s history. Our goal is that even more passengers should afford to fly – also to other continents,” said CEO Bjørn Kjos.
Norwegian’s first intercontinental flight was celebrated with American food, cabin crew dressed in new Moods of Norway uniforms and contests for New York passengers at Oslo Airport on Thursday afternoon. Norwegian’s CEO Bjorn Kjos marked the historic event with a ribbon cutting ceremony:
“We are very happy for the great reception of our long-haul routes and that we finally – after years of planning – are able to welcome our first New York passengers on board. The market for intercontinental flights has long been characterized by artificially high fares and limited flexibility. The reception of our new long-haul routes shows that many want to fly inexpensively and comfortably to New York, Bangkok and Fort Lauderdale,” said CEO Bjørn Kjos. He also took the opportunity to announce that Norwegian will expand the number of weekly flights between Oslo and New York from three to four. From 29 November, Norwegian offers daily flights between New York and Scandinavia.
See photos from the launch attached.
Dreamliner delivery scheduled for late June
Norwegian’s long-haul routes will be operated by an Airbus A340-300 from the European leasing company HiFly. Norwegian expects to take delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner in late June and enter long-haul service in August. Norwegian currently has eight Dreamliners on order, whereof three will be delivered in 2013, four in 2014 and one in 2015.
More launches this week
Norwegian’s first intercontinental flight from Stockholm to New York takes off Friday afternoon, while the first Oslo – Bangkok flight takes place on Saturday. All the flights are full.
Media Contact:
Communications Manager Lasse Sandaker-Nielsen, tel. 454 56 012
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, commercially branded “Norwegian,” is a public low-cost airline noted on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company is the second largest airline in Scandinavia, and has a route portfolio that stretches across Europe into North Africa and the Middle East. In May 2013 it will even commence long-haul flights from Scandinavia to the US and Asia. With competitive prices and customer friendly solutions and service, the company has experienced significant growth over the previous years. With 17.7million passengers in 2012, Norwegian is the 3rd largest low-cost airline in Europe. Norwegian currently operates 73 aircraft on 330 routes to 120 destinations and employs approximately 3,000 people. Norwegian’s fleet has an average age of 4,6 years and the company currently has 280 aircraft on order.
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Norwegian’s first ever intercontinental flight departed for New York today