Norse Atlantic Airways halves US network amid shift toward aircraft leasing

With reduced capacity and what the airline describes as “some softness” in transatlantic demand, Norse will remove six routes from its summer schedule:

- New York (JFK) to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), ending October 17.

- Berlin (BER) to Oslo (OSL).

- Los Angeles (LAX) to Athens (ATH), which launched in June 2025.

- Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG).

- Miami (MIA) to London Gatwick (LGW), ending October 25.

The remaining US network is now smaller, with capacity being redirected towards Asia where performance has reportedly been better. Norse aims to achieve profitability by year-end.

Although some routes achieved solid average load factors last year—such as JFK-BER at 83% and LAX-CDG at 80%—the strongest months for three routes were in December, which is atypical for transatlantic operations that usually peak during summer. Lower fares likely contributed to higher loads but may not have translated into profits. Additionally, fewer flights in December may have artificially inflated load factor figures.

Norse Atlantic follows Norwegian as another attempt at long-haul low-cost service across the Atlantic. The market remains highly competitive; data from aviation analytics firm Cirium indicates more than 140,000 two-way flights are scheduled between Europe and North America during this year's third quarter—a figure up by 4.7%, mainly due to large carriers such as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines.

Major airlines benefit from powerful joint ventures on transatlantic routes. These alliances—oneworld Atlantic Joint Business (American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair and Iberia), A++ (Air Canada, United Airlines and Lufthansa Group), and Blue Skies (Air France-KLM Group, Delta and Virgin Atlantic)—pool revenues among partners and command much larger seat shares than independent operators like Norse or JetBlue.

By leasing aircraft to IndiGo, Norse secures stable revenue streams insulated from direct competition on those planes’ routes. However, this arrangement is temporary; once IndiGo receives its first Airbus A350 deliveries, the contract will conclude.