All-Boeing 787 airline Norse Atlantic Airways is pursuing a sale, merger, or partnership, as the airline has otherwise run out of viable options, after India’s IndiGo pulled the plug on its aircraft leasing agreement.
To Norse Atlantic’s credit, the airline sure is putting a positive spin on this. Is there any chance this will work out well for the airline, or is this overoptimism?
In this post:
That wasn’t exactly a unique business model, because this was exactly what Norwegian did, before it discontinued long haul flights in 2021. Not only was the idea sort of copied, but Norse Atlantic had some executives from Norwegian, and even picked up the planes that Norwegian previously flew.
But as is all too common in the airline industry, clearly they thought it would be different this time around… it wasn’t. So in 2024 we saw the airline update its business model, making the focus less about operating regularly scheduled commercial flights, and more about leasing out aircraft, all while reducing its fleet.
The company got a lifeline when IndiGo decided to lease some Norse Atlantic 787s to dabble in long haul flying, ahead of the airline taking delivery of its own Airbus A350s.
However, between all the airspace closures, high oil costs, and generally declining performance at IndiGo as the airline increasingly moves away from its core strengths, the airline has now decided to scrap that experiment. These planes will be returning to Norse Atlantic as of November 1, 2026.
This means Norse Atlantic will be getting back five Dreamliners (beyond the one that has already been returned), just in time for the winter season… which isn’t exactly the ideal time of year for a long haul, low cost airline to get more planes! So what’s the plan?
Norse Atlantic now open to basically any opportunity
What does Norse Atlantic plan to do with these planes that are being returned? Well, let me just quote the airline. Here’s what it had to say about fleet deployment:
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on One Mile at a Time.
Your source for the travel news. This is crafted specifically to exhibit the use of the theme as a travel site.