Norwegian Air Shuttle
Encyclopedia
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA , trading as Norwegian, is the second-largest airline
in Scandinavia
. In 2010, it transported 13.0 million people. As of October 2011, Norwegian operates a total fleet of 62 aircraft; 17 Boeing 737-300
s and 45 Boeing 737-800
s. The airline has bases at Oslo-Gardermoen
,Copenhagen
, Stockholm-Arlanda
, Helsinki-Vantaa
, Bergen
, Trondheim
, Stavanger
and Sandefjord. It offers a high-frequency domestic flight schedule within Scandinavia and to typical business destinations such as London, combined with a low-frequency service to international destinations from its focus cities.
Norwegian has announced the start-up of long-haul operations in 2012 using Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. The company has firm orders for six Dreamliners, but is negotiating for another 4–6 aircraft and targeting a fleet of 10–15 Dreamliners in the medium term. The launch routes will be from the Scandinavian capitals to New York and Bangkok.
The company’s turnover was in excess of NOK 8.6 billion in 2010.
Norwegian employs about 2,500 people. The company is headed by chief executive officer and largest owner Bjørn Kjos
and the board is chaired by Bjørn H. Kise. The airline is a member of European Low Fares Airline Association
and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
.
Norwegian operates aircraft with all-economy class
seating. Surcharge
are taken for on-board food and drinks, check-in baggage, payment by credit card
and other non-core services. The airlines runs two frequent flyer program
s: Norwegian Reward is for travelers, who earn cash point based on a percent of cash paid for tickets and the ticket class. Corporate Reward allows companies to redeem cash points on a similar basis. By law, frequent flyer points cannot be collected on domestic flights in Norway.
All flight operations are performed under one single air operator's certificate
(AOC) (ICAO airline designator NAX). The Group also held one Swedish AOC (ICAO airline designator NDC) up until 2009, but the double AOC operation was discontinued for efficiency purposes. The main technical base is at Stavanger, although heavy maintenance (C/D checks
) and engine maintenance are put out on tender. Norwegian purchases all aircraft ground handling
from third parties, in Norway, these are Røros Flyservice
and Norport Handling
.
The Norwegian Group consists of the parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA and the fully owned subsidiaries Norwegian Air Shuttle Polska Sp.zo.o and Norwegian Air Shuttle Sweden AB. All flights are operated by the parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, the subsidiaries manages personnel, sales and marketing within certain geographical areas. Additionally, Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA owns 100% of the telephone company Call Norwegian AS, 99.9% of NAS Asset Management, 100% of NAS Asset Management Norway AS and 20% of Norwegian Finans Holding ASA (Bank Norwegian AS).
The company's head office is located in Diamanten
, a building at Fornebu
, Bærum
outside Oslo
. Previously the airline had its head office inside another building in Fornebu. In February 2010, Norwegian Air Shuttle bought Diamanten, the former Braathens
and later SAS Norway head office.
services produced by Busy Bee
for Braathens
in Western Norway. Busy Bee, founded in 1966, was a subsidiary of Braathens that operated a fleet of Fokker 50 aircraft for charter
. This included the network of regional services between cities on the West Coast operated on wet lease
for the mother company. Following the bankruptcy, NAS took over three leased Fokker 50 aircraft, and started operating from Bergen Airport, Flesland
to Haugesund Airport, Karmøy
, as well as from Bergen to Molde Airport, Årø
or Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget
and onwards to Trondheim Airport, Værnes
. The company was established and owned by former Busy Bee employees and initially had a work force of fifty. It was based in Bergen, but later established a technical base in Stavanger.
From 1 April 1994, the airline also began service from Bergen to Ålesund Airport, Vigra
. In 1995, the company received its fourth Fokker 50s, and had a revenue of NOK 86.6 million and a profit of NOK 2.9 million. It flew 50 daily services. In 1996, the airline bid for the public service obligation
(PSO) rotues along the West Coast in cooperation with Tyrolean Airways, but lost the tender to the incumbent Widerøe
. NAS wanted NOK 267 million for the routes, while Widerøe only bid NOK 113 million.
By 1999, the company had six Fokker 50s and flew 500,000 passengeres on 20,000 flights. The company had a revenue of NOK 172 million and a profit of NOK 13 million. NAS submitted a new bid for the PSO routes in 1999, but did not win any. On 2 June 2000, NAS bought the helicopter operator Lufttransport
from Helikopter Service. In 2000, the NAS fleet was expanded to seven Fokker 50s. The same year, Braathens threatened to terminate their agreements with NAS from 2003, and purchase smaller aircraft themselves for the routes and others. From 2 January 2001, several Braathens routes were terminated, including the NAS-operated services from Kristiansund to Trondheim and Molde. The routes from Bergen to Haugesund were reduced from five to three round trips, and the Bergen–Molde–Trondheim route was reduced from four to three. The cuts forced the airline to retire one of its aircraft.
In October 2001, NAS failed in bidding for the PSO route from Bodø to Røst. On 2 November, NAS bought the Swedish helicopter operator Ostermann. On 7 January 2002, NAS took over the responsibility for the route from Stavanger to Newcastle, flying two round trips per day. This was the first route where the airline did not wet lease
the aircraft to Braathens, but instead operated the flights on their own risk. On the same day, Widerøe
started a single round trip on the route.
After Braathens was bought by Scandinavian Airlines System
(SAS) in November 2001, NAS attempted to negotiate a deal where they took over the operations on a permanent basis for their own risk. This was rejected by SAS, who wanted their subsidiary SAS Commuter
or Widerøe to take over. NAS had a 18-month cancellation time on their arrangement.
Following the decision of SAS and Braathens to merge, NAS announced in April 2002 that it was planning to start domestic scheduled services as a low-cost carrier on the most trafficked routes. The company stated that this was conditional that the authorities banned frequent-flyer programs and hindered SAS from cross-subsidizing routes to underbid Norwegian on those routes.
From 1 September 2002, the airline re-branded as Norwegian.
The airline opened their second hub at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport
in Poland
, flying to Central European destinations. There were two Boeing 737 operating from Warsaw
. The base was closed in 2010. Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA announced 24 April 2007 that they had bought 100% of the Swedish low-cost airline FlyNordic
; becoming the largest low-cost airline in Scandinavia. As part of the deal with the former owner, Finnair
got a 5% stake in Norwegian.
On 23 August 2007, Norwegian announced that it would initiate scheduled operations from 18 February 2008 at the new Moss Airport, Rygge
south of Oslo, with the military airport also opening for commercial traffic and located at about the same distance from Oslo as Gardermoen. Norwegian's initial 14 scheduled routes from Rygge were Alicante
, Athens
, Barcelona
, Belgrade
, Bergen
, Budapest
, Istanbul
, London
, Málaga
, Marrakech
, Palanga/Klaipeda
, Szczecin
, Valencia and Warsaw
. Norwegian claims flights from Rygge will generally be cheaper than those from Gardermoen. In February 2008 Norwegian announced their first destination outside Europe, non-stop to Dubai from Oslo-Gardermoen and Stockholm-Arlanda.
After the bankruptcy of competitor Sterling Airlines
, Norwegian announced that they would open a new hub at Copenhagen Airport
and service the most profitable routes. Flights to Aalborg
and Stockholm
as well as additional flights to Oslo
would start immediately, with flights to London, Amsterdam
and Rome
to follow "shortly after".
On 30 August 2007, Norwegian ordered 42 new Boeing 737-800
aircraft, with an option for 42 more, an order worth US$ 3.1 billion. The planes will enter the fleet between 2008 and 2014, approximately 10 each year. The first 737-800 arrived at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
, Norway, on 26 January 2008. It was registered LN-NOB, and has a tail picture of the Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Grieg
. Norwegian Air Shuttle ordered winglet
s on the new aircraft, and it was said the aircraft would be stationed at Moss Airport, though most of its flights operate out of Oslo. The plane made its first scheduled flight on 1 February. LN-NOC, which was the second 737-800 that was entering the fleet, was bought used from Air Europa. A milestone was achieved on April 17, 2009, when Norwegian received LN-NOL, the 6000th 737 ever built.
In April 2010, Norwegian started flights from Oslo-Gardermoen and Stockholm to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
. During early 2011, Norwegian will have three aircraft stationed there and will introduce domestic flights to Oulu Airport
and Rovaniemi Airport
on 31 March 2011. Starting in May, additional flights will begin to nine additional international destinations.
In October 2009, Mr. Kjos stated that Norwegian intended to start flights from Oslo to New York
and Bangkok
, which would require the purchase of new intercontinental aircraft. In 2010, Norwegian stated that it was considering up to 15 intercontinental destinations from Scandinavia, and would also consider services to South America and Africa. On 8 November 2010, Norwegian announced that it had contracted to lease two new Boeing 787 Dreamliners from International Lease Finance Corporation
, with delivery in 2012. The company stated that it was negotiating the purchase of additional aircraft, and that it was hoping to order a total of seven Dreamliners.
Domestic, intra-Scandinavian and typical European business destinations have the most frequencies. The busiest route in Norwegians network is the Oslo to Bergen operation with 13 daily round-trips followed by the Oslo to Trondheim route with 12 daily round-trips. Norwegian’s largest non-Scandinavian operation is to London Gatwick with up to 14 daily round-trips.
Typical leisure destinations in Southern Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East are typically served once a day or less. Norwegians longest route is from Oslo to Dubai, a distance of 5,133 kilometres, which is also the second longest scheduled 737 route in the world.
For topographic and demographic reasons, the domestic market in Norway is one of the largest air travel markets in the Nordic region, and is also significant in European terms. The destinations served by Norwegian are generally divided by mountain ranges, unsheltered plains and fjords. Roads and railroads are therefore of less than satisfactory quality and connections are unpredictable due to weather during mid-winter. Combined with vast distances, air travel is by far the most efficient mode of transportation.
The Finnish and Swedish domestic markets are to a large extent characterized by equivalent properties to that of the Norwegian domestic market. Distances within Denmark are generally short and the landscape flat, but the country is divided by water making rail and road distances long and thus air transportation efficient.
Scandinavia’s geographical placing in the far north corner of Europe also makes air travel the most efficient mode of transportation to continental Europe. Traffic to continental Europe is further enhanced by the demographics in the Scandinavian market with considerable international trade and an extensive tradition for leisure travel.
The -800 are equipped with winglets and CFM 56-7B26
engines. All -800s have a longer range than the -300, allowing 2400 NM. they are the only craft used to the Middle East, Africa and the Canary Islands
; otherwise both types are used throughout the network, plus all domestic services in Sweden. In 2011, Norwegian Air Shuttle will receive 16 new Boeing -800. For 2012, 2013, and 2014 the corresponding figures are 13, 10, and 11, respectively.
In November 2010 Norwegian announced an order for two Boeing 787-8 long-haul aircraft while disclosing that it is negotiating for an additional 4-6 aircraft of the type. The first Dreamliner will be delivered in 2012.
Norwegian's aircraft livery is white with a signal red nose. The vertical tail plane feature portraits of historically distinctive Norwegians, Swedes and Danes which together with the red nose signals the airline's change maker spirit. Norwegian has also operated a single aircraft in the an advertisement livery for the insurance company Silver.
For a limited period in the early years of the 737 operation Norwegian operated a 737-500 as an interim solution while waiting for 737-300 deliveries. Following the acquisition of Swedish low cost airline FlyNordic in 2007, Norwegian inherited eight MD-80 aircraft. The last of the MD-80 aircraft was phased out two years later.
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
. In 2010, it transported 13.0 million people. As of October 2011, Norwegian operates a total fleet of 62 aircraft; 17 Boeing 737-300
Boeing 737 Classic
The Boeing 737 Classic is the name given to the -300/-400/-500 series of the Boeing 737 following the introduction of the -600/-700/-800/-900 series. They are short- to medium- range, narrow-body jet airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Classic series was introduced as the 'new...
s and 45 Boeing 737-800
Boeing 737 Next Generation
The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as Boeing 737NG, is the name given to the -600/-700/-800/-900 series of the Boeing 737 after the introduction of the -300/-400/-500 Classic series. They are short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet airliners...
s. The airline has bases at Oslo-Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is...
,Copenhagen
Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality...
, Stockholm-Arlanda
Stockholm-Arlanda Airport
Stockholm Arlanda Airport , is an international airport located in the Sigtuna Municipality of Sweden, near the town of Märsta, north of Stockholm and nearly , by road, south-east of Uppsala....
, Helsinki-Vantaa
Helsinki Airport
Helsinki Airport or Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is the main international airport of the Helsinki metropolitan region and the whole of Finland. It is located in Vantaa, Finland, about west of Tikkurila, the centre of Vantaa, and north of Helsinki city centre...
, Bergen
Bergen Airport, Flesland
Bergen Airport, Flesland is an international airport located southwest of Bergen, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport in Norway, with 5,296,325 passengers in 2010. Flesland is operated by the state-owned Avinor...
, Trondheim
Trondheim Airport, Værnes
Trondheim Airport, Værnes is an international airport located in Stjørdal, east of Trondheim, Norway. Operated by the state-owned Avinor, it shares facilities with Værnes Air Station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. In 2010, the airport had 3,521,734 passengers and 55,747 air movements,...
, Stavanger
Stavanger Airport, Sola
Stavanger Airport, Sola is an international airport located in Sola, Norway, southwest of Stavanger. It is Norway's third-busiest airport, with both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter traffic for the offshore North Sea oil installations...
and Sandefjord. It offers a high-frequency domestic flight schedule within Scandinavia and to typical business destinations such as London, combined with a low-frequency service to international destinations from its focus cities.
Norwegian has announced the start-up of long-haul operations in 2012 using Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. The company has firm orders for six Dreamliners, but is negotiating for another 4–6 aircraft and targeting a fleet of 10–15 Dreamliners in the medium term. The launch routes will be from the Scandinavian capitals to New York and Bangkok.
Operations
Norwegian is a low-cost airline. The company is the second largest airline in Scandinavia, and has a route portfolio that stretches across Europe into North Africa and the Middle East.The company’s turnover was in excess of NOK 8.6 billion in 2010.
Norwegian employs about 2,500 people. The company is headed by chief executive officer and largest owner Bjørn Kjos
Bjørn Kjos
Bjørn Kjos is a Norwegian aviator, lawyer, author and businessperson. He is the largest owner and CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavia's second largest airline.-Background:...
and the board is chaired by Bjørn H. Kise. The airline is a member of European Low Fares Airline Association
European Low Fares Airline Association
The European Low Fares Airline Association is an organization formed in 2004 to represent low-fare airlines.- Goals :*identifying policy areas affecting the low fares sector*effectively influencing regulatory issues...
and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
Oslo Stock Exchange
The Oslo Stock Exchange serves as the main market for trading in the shares of Norwegian companies. It opens at 9:00am and closes 5:30pm local time...
.
Norwegian operates aircraft with all-economy class
Economy class
__FORCETOC__Economy class, also called coach class , steerage, or standard class, is the lowest class of seating in air travel, rail travel, and sometimes ferry or maritime travel....
seating. Surcharge
Fee
A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup.Traditionally, professionals in Great Britain received a fee in contradistinction to a payment, salary, or wage, and would often use guineas rather than pounds as units of account...
are taken for on-board food and drinks, check-in baggage, payment by credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
and other non-core services. The airlines runs two frequent flyer program
Frequent flyer program
A frequent flyer program is a loyalty program offered by many airlines. Typically, airline customers enrolled in the program accumulate frequent flyer miles corresponding to the distance flown on that airline or its partners. There are other ways to accumulate miles...
s: Norwegian Reward is for travelers, who earn cash point based on a percent of cash paid for tickets and the ticket class. Corporate Reward allows companies to redeem cash points on a similar basis. By law, frequent flyer points cannot be collected on domestic flights in Norway.
All flight operations are performed under one single air operator's certificate
Air Operator's Certificate
An air operator's certificate is the approval granted from a national aviation authority to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets and system in place to ensure the safety of its employees and the general public...
(AOC) (ICAO airline designator NAX). The Group also held one Swedish AOC (ICAO airline designator NDC) up until 2009, but the double AOC operation was discontinued for efficiency purposes. The main technical base is at Stavanger, although heavy maintenance (C/D checks
Aircraft maintenance checks
Aircraft maintenance checks are periodic checks that have to be done on all aircraft after a certain amount of time or usage. Airlines and other commercial operators of large or turbine-powered aircraft follow a continuous inspection program approved by the Federal Aviation Administration in the...
) and engine maintenance are put out on tender. Norwegian purchases all aircraft ground handling
Aircraft ground handling
In aviation, aircraft ground handling defines the servicing of an aircraft while it is on the ground and parked at a terminal gate of an airport.-Overview:...
from third parties, in Norway, these are Røros Flyservice
Røros Flyservice
Røros Flyservice AS is a Norwegian aircraft ground handling company operating at nine airports. Its main customer is Norwegian Air Shuttle, although it serves KLM, Air France, Danish Air Transport and Air Baltic. The company also operates a travel agency....
and Norport Handling
Norport Handling
Norport Handling AS is a aircraft ground handling company that operates at four Norwegian airports: Bergen Airport, Flesland, Stavanger Airport, Sola, Haugesund Airport, Karmøy and Moss Airport, Rygge. The company has 320 employees and more than 110 customers. Revenue was NOK 120 million in 2008...
.
The Norwegian Group consists of the parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA and the fully owned subsidiaries Norwegian Air Shuttle Polska Sp.zo.o and Norwegian Air Shuttle Sweden AB. All flights are operated by the parent company Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, the subsidiaries manages personnel, sales and marketing within certain geographical areas. Additionally, Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA owns 100% of the telephone company Call Norwegian AS, 99.9% of NAS Asset Management, 100% of NAS Asset Management Norway AS and 20% of Norwegian Finans Holding ASA (Bank Norwegian AS).
The company's head office is located in Diamanten
Diamanten
Diamanten or Oksenøyveien 3 is an office building located at Fornebu in Bærum, Norway. It was built in 1985 as the head office of the airline Braathens SAFE, and later became the head office of SAS Braathens. From 1 April 2010, it is the head office of Norwegian Air Shuttle.-Facilities:The...
, a building at Fornebu
Fornebu
Fornebu is a peninsular area in the suburban municipality of Bærum in Norway, bordering western parts of Oslo.Oslo Airport, Fornebu served as the main airport for Oslo and the country since before WWII and until the evening of October 7, 1998, when it was closed down...
, Bærum
Bærum
is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sandvika. Bærum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. A suburb of Oslo, Bærum is located on the west coast of the city....
outside Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. Previously the airline had its head office inside another building in Fornebu. In February 2010, Norwegian Air Shuttle bought Diamanten, the former Braathens
Braathens
Braathens ASA, until 1997 Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S and trading as Braathens SAFE, is a former Norwegian airline that operated from 1946 until it merged with Scandinavian Airlines Norway to become SAS Braathens in 2004. The airline was based in Oslo, first at Fornebu,...
and later SAS Norway head office.
History
Regional airline
Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) was founded on 22 January 1993 to take over the regional airlineRegional airline
Regional airlines are airlines that operate regional aircraft to provide passenger air service to communities without sufficient demand to attract mainline service...
services produced by Busy Bee
Busy Bee
Busy Bee of Norway, branded simply Busy Bee was an airline that operated in Norway between 1966 and 1992. The airline was started by Braathens S.A.F.E under the name Busy Bee Air Service. The airline flew charter and wet lease for Braathens SAFE and Scandinavian Airlines with Fokker F-27, Fokker 50...
for Braathens
Braathens
Braathens ASA, until 1997 Braathens South American & Far East Airtransport A/S and trading as Braathens SAFE, is a former Norwegian airline that operated from 1946 until it merged with Scandinavian Airlines Norway to become SAS Braathens in 2004. The airline was based in Oslo, first at Fornebu,...
in Western Norway. Busy Bee, founded in 1966, was a subsidiary of Braathens that operated a fleet of Fokker 50 aircraft for charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
. This included the network of regional services between cities on the West Coast operated on wet lease
Wet lease
Aircraft leases are a number of types of leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons; to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide temporary increase in capacity...
for the mother company. Following the bankruptcy, NAS took over three leased Fokker 50 aircraft, and started operating from Bergen Airport, Flesland
Bergen Airport, Flesland
Bergen Airport, Flesland is an international airport located southwest of Bergen, Norway. Opened in 1955, it is the second-busiest airport in Norway, with 5,296,325 passengers in 2010. Flesland is operated by the state-owned Avinor...
to Haugesund Airport, Karmøy
Haugesund Airport, Karmøy
Haugesund Airport, Karmøy is the airport serving the city of Haugesund in Norway. It is located on the west side of the island and municipality of Karmøy, southwest of Haugesund. The airport was opened in 1975 and is operated by Avinor....
, as well as from Bergen to Molde Airport, Årø
Molde Airport, Årø
Molde Airport, Årø is located in the city of Molde in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It serves Molde and the surrounding district of Romsdal. The airport sits about east of the city. After opening in 1972, services have been mainly to Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim...
or Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget
Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget is a small size international airport located next to the small mountain Kvernberget, east southeast or from the town center of Kristiansund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway, opened in 1970 and caters to the county's northern district, Nordmøre. The airport...
and onwards to Trondheim Airport, Værnes
Trondheim Airport, Værnes
Trondheim Airport, Værnes is an international airport located in Stjørdal, east of Trondheim, Norway. Operated by the state-owned Avinor, it shares facilities with Værnes Air Station of the Royal Norwegian Air Force. In 2010, the airport had 3,521,734 passengers and 55,747 air movements,...
. The company was established and owned by former Busy Bee employees and initially had a work force of fifty. It was based in Bergen, but later established a technical base in Stavanger.
From 1 April 1994, the airline also began service from Bergen to Ålesund Airport, Vigra
Ålesund Airport, Vigra
Ålesund Airport, Vigra is an airport which serves the city of Ålesund in Norway and the surrounding regions Sunnmøre, Nordfjord and Romsdal. The airport is located on the island of Vigra in the Giske municipality, northeast of Ålesund city centre and easily accessible through underseas tunnels...
. In 1995, the company received its fourth Fokker 50s, and had a revenue of NOK 86.6 million and a profit of NOK 2.9 million. It flew 50 daily services. In 1996, the airline bid for the public service obligation
Public Service Obligation
In transport, public service obligation or PSO is an arrangement in which a governing body or other authority offers an auction for subsidies, permit the winning company a monopoly to operate a specified service of public transport for a specified period of time for the given subsidy...
(PSO) rotues along the West Coast in cooperation with Tyrolean Airways, but lost the tender to the incumbent Widerøe
Widerøe
Widerøe's Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a regional airline in Norway and part of the SAS Group. It operates a fleet of 34 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft , serving 41 domestic and 6 international destinations...
. NAS wanted NOK 267 million for the routes, while Widerøe only bid NOK 113 million.
By 1999, the company had six Fokker 50s and flew 500,000 passengeres on 20,000 flights. The company had a revenue of NOK 172 million and a profit of NOK 13 million. NAS submitted a new bid for the PSO routes in 1999, but did not win any. On 2 June 2000, NAS bought the helicopter operator Lufttransport
Lufttransport
Lufttransport is a Norwegian helicopter and fixed-wing airline that operates primarily air ambulance helicopters and planes for the Norwegian and Swedish governments...
from Helikopter Service. In 2000, the NAS fleet was expanded to seven Fokker 50s. The same year, Braathens threatened to terminate their agreements with NAS from 2003, and purchase smaller aircraft themselves for the routes and others. From 2 January 2001, several Braathens routes were terminated, including the NAS-operated services from Kristiansund to Trondheim and Molde. The routes from Bergen to Haugesund were reduced from five to three round trips, and the Bergen–Molde–Trondheim route was reduced from four to three. The cuts forced the airline to retire one of its aircraft.
In October 2001, NAS failed in bidding for the PSO route from Bodø to Røst. On 2 November, NAS bought the Swedish helicopter operator Ostermann. On 7 January 2002, NAS took over the responsibility for the route from Stavanger to Newcastle, flying two round trips per day. This was the first route where the airline did not wet lease
Wet lease
Aircraft leases are a number of types of leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons; to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide temporary increase in capacity...
the aircraft to Braathens, but instead operated the flights on their own risk. On the same day, Widerøe
Widerøe
Widerøe's Flyveselskap AS, trading as Widerøe, is a regional airline in Norway and part of the SAS Group. It operates a fleet of 34 Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft , serving 41 domestic and 6 international destinations...
started a single round trip on the route.
After Braathens was bought by Scandinavian Airlines System
Scandinavian Airlines System
Scandinavian Airlines or SAS, previously Scandinavian Airlines System, is the flag carrier of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and the largest airline in Scandinavia....
(SAS) in November 2001, NAS attempted to negotiate a deal where they took over the operations on a permanent basis for their own risk. This was rejected by SAS, who wanted their subsidiary SAS Commuter
SAS Commuter
SAS Commuter, later branded Scandinavian Commuter was a regional airline created by Scandinavian Airlines parent companies Det Norske Luftfartsselskap, Det Danske Luftfartsselskap og Aerotransport on December 1, 1988. It was merged with the new airlines Scandinavian Airlines Denmark, Scandinavian...
or Widerøe to take over. NAS had a 18-month cancellation time on their arrangement.
Low-cost carrier
From 1 September 2002, the airline re-branded as Norwegian.
The airline opened their second hub at Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport
Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport
Warsaw Chopin Airport is an international airport located in the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland. Poland's busiest airport, Warsaw Chopin handles just under 50% of the country's air passenger traffic....
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, flying to Central European destinations. There were two Boeing 737 operating from Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The base was closed in 2010. Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA announced 24 April 2007 that they had bought 100% of the Swedish low-cost airline FlyNordic
FlyNordic
FlyNordic was an airline based in Stockholm, Sweden. It operated scheduled and charter services in Scandinavia and Europe. Its main base was Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, Stockholm...
; becoming the largest low-cost airline in Scandinavia. As part of the deal with the former owner, Finnair
Finnair
Finnair Plc is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters on the grounds of Helsinki Airport in Vantaa, Finland, and its main hub at Helsinki Airport. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both the domestic and international air travel markets in Finland. The largest...
got a 5% stake in Norwegian.
On 23 August 2007, Norwegian announced that it would initiate scheduled operations from 18 February 2008 at the new Moss Airport, Rygge
Moss Airport, Rygge
Moss Airport, Rygge is an international airport serving Moss, Oslo and Eastern Norway, located in Rygge. It is both a regional airport for Østfold as well as an airport for low-cost airlines. The airport is located outside Moss and outside Oslo and is owned and operated by the private company...
south of Oslo, with the military airport also opening for commercial traffic and located at about the same distance from Oslo as Gardermoen. Norwegian's initial 14 scheduled routes from Rygge were Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
, Palanga/Klaipeda
Palanga International Airport
Palanga International Airport is an international airport located in the western part of Lithuania near the Baltic Sea. The airport focuses on servicing short and mid-range routes. The facility expansion completed in 2007 has made long-range route servicing a possibility. Since 1993, the number of...
, Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
, Valencia and Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. Norwegian claims flights from Rygge will generally be cheaper than those from Gardermoen. In February 2008 Norwegian announced their first destination outside Europe, non-stop to Dubai from Oslo-Gardermoen and Stockholm-Arlanda.
After the bankruptcy of competitor Sterling Airlines
Sterling Airlines
Sterling Airlines A/S was a low-cost airline with its head office at Copenhagen Airport South in Dragør, Dragør Municipality, Denmark. It was created in September 2005 through the merger of two Danish airlines — Sterling European Airlines and Maersk Air — which had been bought by the Icelandic...
, Norwegian announced that they would open a new hub at Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport
Copenhagen Airport is the main international airport serving Copenhagen, Denmark and the Oresund Region. It is located on the island of Amager, south of Copenhagen city centre, and west of Malmö city centre on the other side of the Oresund Bridge. The airport lies mainly in the municipality...
and service the most profitable routes. Flights to Aalborg
Aalborg
-Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen....
and Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
as well as additional flights to Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
would start immediately, with flights to London, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
to follow "shortly after".
On 30 August 2007, Norwegian ordered 42 new Boeing 737-800
Boeing 737 Next Generation
The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as Boeing 737NG, is the name given to the -600/-700/-800/-900 series of the Boeing 737 after the introduction of the -300/-400/-500 Classic series. They are short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet airliners...
aircraft, with an option for 42 more, an order worth US$ 3.1 billion. The planes will enter the fleet between 2008 and 2014, approximately 10 each year. The first 737-800 arrived at Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is...
, Norway, on 26 January 2008. It was registered LN-NOB, and has a tail picture of the Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
. Norwegian Air Shuttle ordered winglet
Winglet
Wingtip devices are usually intended to improve the efficiency of fixed-wing aircraft. There are several types of wingtip devices, and though they function in different manners, the intended effect is always to reduce the aircraft's drag by partial recovery of the tip vortex energy...
s on the new aircraft, and it was said the aircraft would be stationed at Moss Airport, though most of its flights operate out of Oslo. The plane made its first scheduled flight on 1 February. LN-NOC, which was the second 737-800 that was entering the fleet, was bought used from Air Europa. A milestone was achieved on April 17, 2009, when Norwegian received LN-NOL, the 6000th 737 ever built.
In April 2010, Norwegian started flights from Oslo-Gardermoen and Stockholm to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Helsinki-Vantaa Airport
Helsinki Airport or Helsinki-Vantaa Airport is the main international airport of the Helsinki metropolitan region and the whole of Finland. It is located in Vantaa, Finland, about west of Tikkurila, the centre of Vantaa, and north of Helsinki city centre...
. During early 2011, Norwegian will have three aircraft stationed there and will introduce domestic flights to Oulu Airport
Oulu Airport
Oulu Airport is located in the municipality of Oulunsalo, Finland, south-west of Oulu city centre. The airport is the second busiest in Finland after Helsinki-Vantaa airport, as measured by the number of passengers and the amount of freight transported. There are around twenty daily flights to...
and Rovaniemi Airport
Rovaniemi Airport
Rovaniemi Airport is the fifth biggest airport in Finland by annual number of passengers, located in Rovaniemi, Finland, about north of Rovaniemi city centre. The Arctic Circle crosses the runway closer to its northern end.- History :...
on 31 March 2011. Starting in May, additional flights will begin to nine additional international destinations.
In October 2009, Mr. Kjos stated that Norwegian intended to start flights from Oslo to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
, which would require the purchase of new intercontinental aircraft. In 2010, Norwegian stated that it was considering up to 15 intercontinental destinations from Scandinavia, and would also consider services to South America and Africa. On 8 November 2010, Norwegian announced that it had contracted to lease two new Boeing 787 Dreamliners from International Lease Finance Corporation
International Lease Finance Corporation
The International Lease Finance Corporation is an aircraft lessor headquartered in Century City, Los Angeles, California.It is the world's largest aircraft lessor by value, though ILFC's rival, General Electric's GECAS unit, has more aircraft...
, with delivery in 2012. The company stated that it was negotiating the purchase of additional aircraft, and that it was hoping to order a total of seven Dreamliners.
Destinations
Norwegian serves Europe, North Africa and the Middle East for both business and leisure markets. In total the airline operates 238 routes to 95 destinations in 27 countries on three continents.Domestic, intra-Scandinavian and typical European business destinations have the most frequencies. The busiest route in Norwegians network is the Oslo to Bergen operation with 13 daily round-trips followed by the Oslo to Trondheim route with 12 daily round-trips. Norwegian’s largest non-Scandinavian operation is to London Gatwick with up to 14 daily round-trips.
Typical leisure destinations in Southern Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East are typically served once a day or less. Norwegians longest route is from Oslo to Dubai, a distance of 5,133 kilometres, which is also the second longest scheduled 737 route in the world.
Domestic network
Norwegian operates an extensive domestic network within Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.For topographic and demographic reasons, the domestic market in Norway is one of the largest air travel markets in the Nordic region, and is also significant in European terms. The destinations served by Norwegian are generally divided by mountain ranges, unsheltered plains and fjords. Roads and railroads are therefore of less than satisfactory quality and connections are unpredictable due to weather during mid-winter. Combined with vast distances, air travel is by far the most efficient mode of transportation.
The Finnish and Swedish domestic markets are to a large extent characterized by equivalent properties to that of the Norwegian domestic market. Distances within Denmark are generally short and the landscape flat, but the country is divided by water making rail and road distances long and thus air transportation efficient.
International network
Intra- Scandinavian routes, and in particular “the capital triangle” between Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen, is attractive due to extensive traffic both of business and leisure travellers. Other modes of transportation are generally inefficient and slow between these cities.Scandinavia’s geographical placing in the far north corner of Europe also makes air travel the most efficient mode of transportation to continental Europe. Traffic to continental Europe is further enhanced by the demographics in the Scandinavian market with considerable international trade and an extensive tradition for leisure travel.
Current Fleet
As of October 2011, the Norwegian Air Shuttle fleet consists of 62 single-aisle jet aircraft with an average age of 6 years. The company has opted to modernize the fleet with state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft. A total of 74 such aircraft will be delivered from 2008 to 2014. The total order is for 78 aircraft of this type to be delivered by 2018, with a further 12 aircraft on purchase options. In addition, currently 23 such aircraft are held on lease contracts.| Aircraft | In Service | Orders | Options | Passengers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-300 Boeing 737 Classic The Boeing 737 Classic is the name given to the -300/-400/-500 series of the Boeing 737 following the introduction of the -600/-700/-800/-900 series. They are short- to medium- range, narrow-body jet airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Classic series was introduced as the 'new... |
17 | 0 | 0 | 148 | 4 retrofitted with winglets To be phased out by 2012 |
| Boeing 737-800 Boeing 737 Next Generation The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as Boeing 737NG, is the name given to the -600/-700/-800/-900 series of the Boeing 737 after the introduction of the -300/-400/-500 Classic series. They are short- to medium-range, narrow-body jet airliners... |
45 | 56 | 12 | 186/189 | Winglet equipped |
| Boeing 787-8 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 291 (36/255) | The first will be delivered in 2012 |
| Total | 62 | 62 | 18 |
The -800 are equipped with winglets and CFM 56-7B26
CFM International CFM56
The CFM International CFM56 series is a family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International , with a thrust range of . CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of SNECMA, France and GE Aviation , USA. Both companies are responsible for producing components and each has its own...
engines. All -800s have a longer range than the -300, allowing 2400 NM. they are the only craft used to the Middle East, Africa and the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
; otherwise both types are used throughout the network, plus all domestic services in Sweden. In 2011, Norwegian Air Shuttle will receive 16 new Boeing -800. For 2012, 2013, and 2014 the corresponding figures are 13, 10, and 11, respectively.
In November 2010 Norwegian announced an order for two Boeing 787-8 long-haul aircraft while disclosing that it is negotiating for an additional 4-6 aircraft of the type. The first Dreamliner will be delivered in 2012.
Norwegian's aircraft livery is white with a signal red nose. The vertical tail plane feature portraits of historically distinctive Norwegians, Swedes and Danes which together with the red nose signals the airline's change maker spirit. Norwegian has also operated a single aircraft in the an advertisement livery for the insurance company Silver.
Historic fleet
From 1993 to 2002, the company solely operated Fokker F-50 turbo-prop aircraft primarily as a commuter airline, having a total fleet of six in 2002. The company ceased all F-50 operations at the end of 2003 in order to focus on the Boeing 737-300 jet operations and sold the last three of the Fokker F-50 in early 2004.For a limited period in the early years of the 737 operation Norwegian operated a 737-500 as an interim solution while waiting for 737-300 deliveries. Following the acquisition of Swedish low cost airline FlyNordic in 2007, Norwegian inherited eight MD-80 aircraft. The last of the MD-80 aircraft was phased out two years later.
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 737-500 Boeing 737 Classic The Boeing 737 Classic is the name given to the -300/-400/-500 series of the Boeing 737 following the introduction of the -600/-700/-800/-900 series. They are short- to medium- range, narrow-body jet airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The Classic series was introduced as the 'new... |
1 | 2002 | 2003 | |
| Fokker 50 | 7 | 1992 | 2004 | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-82 | 5 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-83 | 3 | 2008 | 2009 |