Establishment Norse Atlantic Airways was founded in February 2021 by Bjørn Tore Larsen, with Bjørn Kise and
Bjørn Kjos holding minority stakes. The airline was announced on 15 March 2021, alongside its plans to begin selling tickets in the fall of 2021 for the start of scheduled commercial flights in December 2021. The airline's plans also included intentions to operate twelve
Boeing 787-9s that were previously operated by now defunct
Norwegian Air Shuttle and its associated subsidiaries, establishing partnerships with other Norwegian airlines, including Norwegian Air Shuttle and startup airline
Flyr, The airline had announced
London,
Oslo, and
Paris in Europe, alongside
Los Angeles,
Miami, and
New York City in the United States as its planned initial destination cities, To launch the company, its shareholders completed a
private placement of 1.275 billion
Norwegian kroner ($150 million
U.S. dollars) on 26 March 2021. On 29 March 2021,
AerCap announced the signing of a lease agreement with Norse Atlantic for the airline's first nine Boeing 787s, consisting of three 787-8s and six 787-9s. Following Norse Atlantic's debut on the Oslo stock market on 12 April 2021, the company raised upwards of 1.4 billion Norwegian kroner ($165 million US dollars) in its
initial public offering (IPO). During August 2021, Norse Atlantic Airways announced that it had secured leasing rights for a further six Boeing 787-9s from
BOC Aviation, increasing its planned fleet from twelve to fifteen aircraft, with deliveries beginning in 2021 and the deliveries to be completed during 2022. On 10 August 2021, the airline additionally revealed its updated corporate image and aircraft livery. Subsequently, Norse Atlantic's planned launch of operations was postponed from December 2021 to the summer of 2022, with the company citing travel restrictions related to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the start of ticket sales planned to take place approximately three months prior to launch. The airline also announced that it had applied for an
air operator's certificate (AOC) in Norway, and that it planned to apply for an additional AOC in the United Kingdom. By the end of the month, airline still had not publicly specified any airports it would serve, In September 2021, the airline within its application to the
United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) for a foreign air carrier permit outlined the operation of flights from
Oslo to
Fort Lauderdale,
Newburgh, and
Ontario airports, serving the Miami, New York City, and Los Angeles areas, respectively. By November 2021, the airline was reported to have been allocated arrival and departure slots at
London Stansted Airport. On 20 December 2021, the airline's first Boeing 787-9 was ferried to Oslo ahead of its planned spring 2022 launch of operations, and on 29 December 2021, the airline was granted its AOC by the
Civil Aviation Authority of Norway. On 14 January 2022, the airline received approval from the USDOT to operate scheduled and chartered service between Europe and the USA. On 15 March 2022, a year following Norse Atlantic's public reveal, the airline announced that it planned to begin ticket sales in April 2022 with the launch of operations to occur during June 2022, and that it had been allocated slots at London's
Gatwick Airport. On 11 April 2022, the airline received its approval for its foreign air carrier permit from the USDOT.
Launch of operations Norse Atlantic Airways opened reservations and announced its initial route network on 28 April 2022, and that flights would launch on 14 June 2022 between Oslo and New York JFK, before later operating services to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Los Angeles as part of its initial network. Notably, the airline deviated from its intentions to operate to Newburgh or Ontario. On 26 May 2022, the airline announced details of operations at its first European destination outside of Oslo, with flights from London Gatwick to both its Oslo base and New York JFK to begin on 12 August 2022. The airline announced its second European destination outside of Oslo on 8 June 2022, with flights from Berlin to both New York JFK and Los Angeles, respectively on 17 and 18 August 2022. On 28 July 2022, Norse Atlantic launched its first partnerships with other airlines, consisting of
easyJet,
Norwegian Air Shuttle, and
Spirit Airlines to provide connecting traffic between the airlines through services provided by
Dohop. For the airline's first winter schedule since launch, starting in October 2022 the airline further reduced its schedule than previously planned in line with the reduced passenger demand, with its Los Angeles and Orlando routes becoming seasonal.
Expansion In November 2022, Norse Atlantic announced the addition of both
Paris Charles de Gaulle and
Rome Fiumicino as destinations to launch in March and June 2023 respectively. On 14 February 2023, the airline announced the launch of flights operated by its British subsidiary
Norse Atlantic UK to begin in May 2023, with services between London Gatwick and Orlando beginning on 25 May 2023, and Fort Lauderdale on 26 May 2023, however the subsidiary launched in advance of these dates on 26 March 2023, taking over the operation of Norse Atlantic's route between London Gatwick and New York JFK. On 3 May 2023, the airline announced its first services in Asia and the Caribbean, with services between London Gatwick and
Barbados,
Kingston, and
Montego Bay to launch in October 2023, and services between Oslo and
Bangkok to begin in November 2023, however the services to the Caribbean were delayed until December 2023, with the planned Kingston service ultimately cancelled. On 21 December 2023, the airline announced that it would expand operations to Greece, with services between New York JFK and
Athens to begin in May 2024. On 28 March 2024, the airline announced that it would expand services between London Gatwick and
Las Vegas to begin in September 2024. On 18 October 2024, the airline announced a new service between Rome Fiumicino and Los Angeles from 22 May 2025. In early 2025, the airline implemented layoffs mainly at its headquarters as part of a restructuring aimed at reducing costs and aligning with a new business model focused on ACMI and charter flights. Simultaneously, the airline relocated key administrative and operational functions to a new center in Riga, Latvia. In April 2025, the airline announced widespread cuts to its routes to the United States due to severely decreasing passenger traffic, consisting of frequency cuts to various routes, and with services from Athens, Berlin and Paris to New York cut seasonally. In May 2025, the airline announced a new route between Athens and Los Angeles from 3 June 2025, notably the first nonstop service between Athens and the
west coast of the United States. == Corporate affairs ==