Budget carrier Norse Atlantic adds six Dreamliner aircraft

Norway's Norse Atlantic, a recently formed long-haul airline that plans to challenge established players on routes between Europe and the United States, has agreed to lease six aircraft from BOC Aviation, it said on Monday. The leasing agreement expands the budget carrier’s fleet to 15 widebody jets, all Boeing 787 Dreamliners, as Norse seeks to fill the void left by Norwegian Air’s exit from transatlantic routes. The global airlines industry has experienced heavy losses during the coronavirus pandemic, leaving a glut of airplanes available for those launching new carriers. Norse has said it could offer its first flights by the end of 2021, depending on how the pandemic and travel restrictions develop. “We very much look forward to welcoming customers on both sides of the Atlantic on board these state-of-the-art aircraft as soon as demand for transatlantic travel resumes,” Norse founder and CEO Bjoern Tore Larsen said. The leasing contract with BOC is for around 16 years for each of the six aircraft, Norse said. It comes on top of nine jets leased from Ireland’s AerCap for between eight and 12 years each.<br/>