Edinburgh Airport has been chosen as a new base for Norwegian, with plans for transatlantic flights. The airline is recruiting 30 pilots and 100 air crew, and intends to operate 2 or 3 aircraft out of the Scottish capital. Norwegian is soon to take delivery of a new type of Boeing 737, capable of longer flights than previous designs. The airline is expected to announce new routes linking Scotland to airports in the Boston and New York areas soon. Norwegian's CCO Thomas Ramdahl said: "Edinburgh is a central part of our UK growth plans and together with new aircraft and new flights, we are also creating new jobs in Scotland. Since 2009, Norwegian has flown more than 1m passengers to and from Edinburgh. <br/>
unaligned
More than 100 US legislators have asked US president-elect Donald Trump to revoke a permit allowing Norwegian Air International to fly from Cork and Shannon to Boston. Washington’s DoT recently granted Norwegian Air International a foreign carrier’s permit, allowing it to fly between the EU and US, and paving the way for its proposed transatlantic services from Cork and Shannon. However, 108 congressmen and women – some with strong Irish connections – have written to Trump calling on him to use the US president’s power to revoke or suspend Norwegian’s permit as soon as he takes office later this month. The DoT’s order states that the president has 60 days to decide to overturn the decision to grant Norwegian Air International its foreign carrier’s permit. <br/>
Omani start-up SalamAir has delayed the launch of revenue flights to Jan 30. The LCC had been aiming for mid- to late-Dec 2016 to begin services. The airline’s first route will be between Muscat and the Arabian nation’s second city, Salalah, some 550 nm to the southwest, near the border with Yemen. Multiple daily flights are planned and will be followed by the company’s first international route, to Dubai, Feb 15. The airline will use 3 Airbus A320s on lease from LATAM Group, as its initial equipment. With a population of just 3.5m, the Omani market is relatively small, but SalamAir CE François Bouteiller said he believes there is strong demand for an LCC in the country, particularly on the Muscat-Salalah route. Both Bouteiller and his counterpart at Oman Air, CE Paul Gregorowitsch, have previously spoken of cooperating, rather than competing, on certain routes. <br/>