Norse Atlantic Airways, the Oslo-based carrier aiming to do what no one else has so managed to do – make low-cost transatlantic airline travel a profitable and sustainable business, says it is currently making $422 in revenue per passenger and expects to turn a profit over the busy summer season.
Of course, Norse Atlantic will face more of a challenge over the traditionally quieter winter months but founder and CEO Bjørn Tore Larsen remains convinced that his airline will be “the first truly low-cost profitable long-haul airline”.
Larsen is using long-haul airplanes that once belonged to budget airline Norwegian before the carrier abandoned its transatlantic ambitions at the start of the pandemic.
Norwegian’s long-haul business brought the airline to the brink of collapse, although some of its woes were the fault of an issue with the Rolls-Royce Trent that affected a large number of Boeing 787 Dreamliners at airlines around the world.
Larsen has acquired the ex-Norwegian Dreamliners, and now that the engine problems have long been sorted, Larsen is hoping to reap the benefits of the fuel-efficient aircraft.
Norse Atlantic now has all 15 of its Dreamliners flying, five of which remain on sublease to other airlines.
Thankfully, Larsen has managed to increase capacity while improving the airline’s passenger load factor. Last September, Norse managed to fill just 58% of available seats across its aircraft, but by April and as the airline has slowly established itself, that figure had increased to 67%.
In May, the load factor clocked in at 72%. In June, it was 82%, and by July, the most recent figures available, the load factor was 85%.
“Q3 is expected to be our first financial quarter generating a profit,” commented Larsen on Thursday. “A milestone was passed during Q3 as we surpassed one million booked passengers. By providing affordable air fares on competitive and established routes to key primary airports and destinations, we allow more people to explore the world and enjoy the experience of long-haul travel whether for leisure or business.”
Like many low-cost airlines, ancillary sales are an important revenue stream for Norse, but the airline did not break down how much of its passenger revenues were coming from ticket sales vs. ancillary sales.
