Norwegian has welcomed news that its British subsidiary Norwegian UK (NUK) has been given tentative approval by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) for a foreign air carrier permit.
When finalised by the DOT, the permit will allow Norwegian’s UK subsidiary to operate low-cost flights between the US and Europe.
The airline said the approval reaffirms that the NUK application is in full compliance with the EU-US Open Skies Agreement.
Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos said:"Tentative US approval for our UK subsidiary takes us a positive step towards being able to offer millions of passengers even more new routes and lower fares.
"We look forward to final DOT approval for Norwegian UK’s foreign air carrier permit soon, allowing us to continue delivering more flights, more choice and more jobs on both sides of the Atlantic."
Norwegian flies from five UK airports: Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast. The NUK subsidiary was set up in November 2015 and plans to operate a Gatwick-Singapore service in September and a Gatwick-Argentina flight in February 2018.
Once final approval is received from the US authorities, Norwegian UK will be able to establish a seamless operation and more effectively utilise its long-haul fleet – this includes the use of the same aircraft on all long-haul routes such as the US, Singapore, Argentina and other future long-haul markets Norwegian is looking at in Asia and South America.
