Norse gets U.S. okay for more direct flights

Norse Atlantic, the low-cost trans-Atlantic carrier that's trying to follow in the footsteps of Norwegian, has been granted permission to operate flights direct to U.S. cities from London's Gatwick Airport.

The foreign air carrier permit issued to Norse's UK subsidiary will eliminate the workaround the carrier has been using, in which it has been forced to schedule all its U.S. flights with a leg that includes Norway, where the parent company has had a permit for the U.S.

Now that it can operate directly, the airline plans to add additional U.S. cities to its route network, including such passenger-rich cities as Los Angeles, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale. The airline has already operated flights to those cities from Oslo.