Norse Atlantic CEO says summer travel demand remains strong, teases winter flights to Asia
Norse Atlantic Airways, the European long-haul, low-cost carrier, began service between New York and Paris this weekend. And its CEO Bjorn Tore Larsen told USA TODAY that the airline has further expansion plans on the horizon.
Those plans include flights from New York to Rome beginning in June, and a variety of other routes between U.S. and European destinations in the coming weeks and months.
Larsen also said the airline could soon announce winter service between Europe and Asia, which would represent the carrier's first scheduled service between the two continents.
If Thailand soon appeared on Norse's route map, "your readers shouldn't be surprised," Larsen said.
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Tickets from the U.S. to Asia could be a little complicated to book on Norse, requiring separate reservations for flights between the U.S. and Europe and the connections between Europe and Asia. If something goes wrong on itineraries like that, passengers could be left on the hook if they miss their flights.
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"Since we have a business model that is only point-to-point, we don't offer that type of protection, we do, however, have a cooperation with a company called Dohop and they are connecting us with other airlines and offer this type of protection," Larsen said. "Dohop can do the same for two Norse flights."
Is it still a good time to go to Europe?
In the meantime, Larsen said, transatlantic demand remains high.
"There is a huge demand for Americans to go to Europe," he said. "The American dollar goes a long way for tourists who want to do luxury or budget traveling, but still you can find a lot of good offers."
Norse continues to focus on high-demand leisure markets on both sides of the Atlantic, and Larsen said strong competition between airlines is good for travelers and works well with Norse's business model.
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"We don't want to invent the wheel. We're basically offering affordable fares to people," he said. "We know where people want to travel and we want to give an alternative to the existing offerings right now."
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Norse Atlantic CEO talks expansion plans to Rome, Asia with USA TODAY
