Low-cost airline Norse Atlantic has just added a new destination to its growing network of long-haul destinations: Washington-Dulles (IAD).

[LGW,IAD]

The Oslo-based airline has been rapidly expanding since its founding in 2021 and just launched its inaugural service to Dulles beginning on June 1 from London Gatwick (LGW). 

The flight to IAD joins an expanding list of long-haul destinations from the airline's operating base at LGW. Norse Atlantic already serves Orlando (MCO) and New York (JFK) and plans to launch service to Boston (BOS), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), Barbados (BGI), Kingston (KIN), Montego Bay (MBJ), and San Francisco (SFO) at various points later this year.

The new Gatwick to Dulles service will be operated by the airline's 787-9 Dreamliner and will initially run up to six times weekly (no flight on Tuesdays). Norse Atlantic exclusively operates 787-9 Dreamliners on long-haul routes from bases in London Gatwick, Fort Lauderdale, Oslo (OSL), and JFK. Many of the aircraft in Norse Atlantic's fleet come from the now-defunct Norwegian Air UK which operated many of the same routes now flown by Norse Atlantic.

Norse Atlantic has highlighted its optimism surrounding the new service to Washington DC, noting how the market between London and Washington is saturated with high levels of both leisure and business travelers.

While Norse Atlantic may not be able to break into the business travel market much with its low-cost model, the low fares offered on the route may be quite appealing to budget travelers who have limited cheap options out of Dulles currently.

Norse Atlantic certainly will face still competition in the Washington to London market. United Airlines, which operates a large hub out of Dulles, is set to operate up to three nonstop flights between Dulles and London Heathrow (LHR) throughout the summer, and British Airways likewise flies up to three daily flights between IAD and LHR.

Virgin Atlantic's daily flight between IAD and LHR means Norse Atlantic's flight to Gatwick will be the eighth daily departure for the city pair. Norse Atlantic, however, will have the advantage of flying into Gatwick, which could be appealing to passengers who don't want to deal with the much larger Heathrow airport.

Norse Atlantic's flight will operate westbound as Z0 740, departing Gatwick at 3:00 p.m. and arriving in Dulles at 6:20 p.m., with the flight time approaching seven hours. Going eastbound, the flight will operate as flight Z0 741, departing Dulles at 8:25 p.m. and arriving in Gatwick at 8:45 a.m. the next day (blocked at 7 hours and 20 minutes of flying time).

Once the summer travel season ends, Norse Atlantic will understandably cut the service to four weekly departures after September 1. Low-cost airlines carry a significant majority of their passengers over the summer travel season when leisure travel demand is the highest. Norse Atlantic is no different. 

Norse Atlantic's network is continuing to evolve and the airline is still capacity strained by only operating a fleet of ten aircraft. Fortunately, the airline has five 787-9 aircraft on order, which, when acquired, will aid the network expansion plans the airline has. It remains to be seen how some routes will do, particularly outside the summer travel rush, but all signs point to continued success as the airline tries to avoid the failures and flaws of previous Norwegian long-haul airlines.

In particular, Norse Atlantic's focus on large airports in major metro regions contrasts its predecessor Norwegian's low-cost approach of serving secondary airports in major metro regions.

With airfares hitting record highs for long-haul flights to Europe, Norse Atlantic's significantly discounted fares between major city pairs will likely propel the airline to an extremely successful summer, and no doubt the new service between Gatwick and Dulles will help play a part.