Norse Atlantic Launches Nonstop LAX To Paris Service For $239

06.05.2024 - 16:55 / forbes.com / London Gatwick / Airlines

Norse Atlantic Airways , the Norwegian low-cost, long-haul airline, flew its inaugural flight from Los Angeles International (LAX) to Paris’ Charles De Gaulle (CDG) on May 1. Norse flights from the movie capitol to the French capitol start at $239 one-way Economy (including taxes and fees) and $705 one-way in Norse Premium.

Flights from LA (LAX) to Paris (CDG) will take place four times a week and will depart at 9:10 p.m. PDT and arrive at 5 p.m. the following day local time. Flights depart Paris (CDG) at 4:15 p.m. local time, arriving at LA (LAX) at 7:05 p.m. PDT the same day.

Norse has a fleet of 15 big, modern, Boeing 787 Dreamliners. On board, each seat has a personal entertainment screen with included films and TV shows, plus a plug for your charger.

The LAX-Paris nonstop service joins Norse Atlantic existing non-stop service from LAX to London Gatwick (LGW) and Oslo (OSL). The airline is also running a spring sale on transatlantic fares from the New York area, with one-way base fares to Paris, Oslo, London, Berlin, Rome and Athens starting at $149. One-way fares from Miami and Orlando are also offered to destinations like London starting at $149.

The new LAX-Paris service from Norse should interest air travelers. First, affordable new service to a popular international destination as the summer season begins is always welcome. And this year, the Olympics will take over Paris in July and August.

Second, the fact that Norse Atlantic, founded by CEO and major shareholder Bjorn Tore Larsen in March 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, has not only survived but has grown over the last three years is remarkable.

Just as remarkable is that Norse Atlantic is a low-cost, long-haul airline. Historically, low-cost, long-haul airlines have been beloved by passengers, hated by accountants. Laker Airways, Tower Air and once globe-spanning Norwegian Airlines are among the carriers that were initially successful (Norwegian was in 2019 the largest foreign airline in the New York area.)

Unfortunately low-cost, long-haul mavericks were eventually done in by some combination of costs (fuel costs was always a big one), revenues, competition, and bad luck. So far, perhaps by managing growth and staying relatively small, Norse is bucking the trend.

For most low-cost, long-haul airlines, the idea was to charge a low base economy fare, then charge for services (many of which were once included in airline fares.) Such fees could be for carry-on and checkable baggage, meals, priority boarding, seat assignment, extra legroom, and more.

On Norse, passengers can choose from three fares, including Light, Classic, and Flextra. Light fares represent Norse’s “value,” i.e., base or cheapest option. This is true in both of