Leasing firm AerCap Holdings confirmed today what had been rumoured for a week or so, which was that it will be leasing six used Boeing 787-9 and three used Boeing 787-8 aircraft to the new Norwegian start-up airline Norse Atlantic Airways.
Peter Anderson, Chief Commercial Officer of AerCap, said, "AerCap is excited to announce the signing of lease agreements for nine Boeing 787 aircraft with Norse Atlantic Airways. With its superior operating characteristics, the 787 is the perfect aircraft for Norse Atlantic Airways to launch a modern long-haul low-cost airline, and we are delighted to be supplying them with their first aircraft. We wish Norse Atlantic Airways every success and look forward to working with them as they roll out their plan in the years to come."
"We are thrilled to be partnering with a market leader in AerCap to lease our initial fleet of Dreamliners. Norse Atlantic Airways looks forward to providing our passengers with comfortable, affordable, intercontinental travel aboard these state-of-the-art aircraft," said Bjørn Tore Larsen, Chief Executive Officer of Norse Atlantic.
Norse Atlantic Airways, based in Oslo, Norway, plan to launch long-haul low-cost services, connecting major cities in Europe and the USA with these aircraft scheduled for delivery during 2021. The Leases are at attractive rates and payment terms, allowing the Norse Atlantic team to offer a flexible implementation during the start-up phase. The lease terms are approximately 8 years for the 787-8 aircraft and approximately 12 years for the 787-9 aircraft. The launch date for Norse Atlantic is expected to be sometime during December 2021, in time for a Christmas rush, but at an otherwise relatively quiet time from transatlantic travel
These aircraft previously flew with the budget carrier Norwegian, before it axed its entire long-haul operation to save itself from complete collapse. Yet, these aircraft are not the only connection to Norwegian, Norse Atlantic Airways has. Three of the founders - Bjørn Tore Larsen, Bjorn Kljos and Bjørn Kise all held top jobs with Norwegian or OSM Aviation. A number of other key personnel are former Norwegian employees and the whole focus on being low-fare and low-cost, with lean management and administration teams, to operate long-haul flights, with high cabin utilization is pretty much how the former carrier started.
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