Long-haul travel is ready for a resurgence in 2022. International tourist arrivals in July-September 2021 remained 64 per cent below the same period in 2019, despite the widespread roll out of vaccinations and the reopening of most borders. 

Yet as we move towards living with Covid, the outlook is certainly more hopeful. The US, for example, has continued to welcome vaccinated Britons even as omicron spread across the UK. Our appetite for trips overseas will surely rebound after two years of lockdowns and travel bans.

The bosses of a clutch of new low-cost, long-haul airlines are banking on such pent-up demand.

Norse Atlantic Airways is the latest carrier to plan a transatlantic launch during the pandemic. On December 29 it passed the latest hurdle in beginning budget flights between the US and Europe – securing an air operator’s certificate from the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority. Its first flights from Oslo are set to depart this spring.

“We are now one important step closer to launching our attractive and affordable flights between Europe and the US,” said its chief executive and founder Bjørn Tore Larsen as the accolade was announced.

Norse is planning UK-US flights for later in 2022. 

The US was the second most popular destination for a future holiday, according to research released by Abta in November. One in five Britons who were planning a leisure trip abroad hoped to travel to the US; many will be ready to pick up a bargain air ticket.

Budget challengers are already lined up, however, including Icelandic airline PLAY, which put UK-US flights on sale last month. So what sets Norse apart from the competition? Here’s everything we know so far.

Where will it fly to? 

The start-up carrier will kick off its operations with flights from Oslo to the US. However, it plans to start routes from the UK to the States later in 2022. 

US Department of Transportation records show that it will fly to smaller American airports, including Fort Lauderdale, New York Stewart and Ontario in California. These routes were previously popular for Norwegian Air (more on this below).

Norse will be focusing solely on long-haul connections. Indeed, the word ‘Atlantic’ in its name certainly hints at a dedication to services between Europe and the United States.

What does the fleet look like?

Norse is to run 15 Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The same set of planes were used by Norwegian, which announced in January 2021 that it would be scrapping its budget transatlantic routes.