Norwegian Air eyes more 787s after US approval

Norwegian Air Shuttle will need to order more long-haul planes, with Boeing 787s the likeliest option, once its Irish subsidiary wins US approval to fly transatlantic routes. The US DoT said Friday it intended to grant flying rights to Norwegian Air's Irish subsidiary. Norwegian Air is Europe's third-largest budget airline by passenger numbers after Ryanair and easyJet. "With this permission from the US DoT, we can start flying people from Africa and Asia via Europe to the US. We are going to need more long-haul planes than we have ordered today," Norwegian Air's CE Bjorn Kjos said. The airline has ordered US$18.5b worth of planes from Boeing so far, including 29 787 Dreamliners in October. "Dreamliners are the most likely option," said Kjos, without specifying how many more planes would be needed. "We are going to create jobs in the US. This permit allows us to look at more planes from Boeing." <br/>