Low-cost airline Norwegian to double int'l traffic in five years

Low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle's growth on international routes will more than double in the next five years as the company took delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner long-haul aircraft on Wednesday, local newspaper Aftenposten reported.

The company will grow 20 percent annually over the next five years and virtually all the growth will come in the long routes, which means the budget airline will increase its competition against international giants in their U.S. and European home markets, the report said.

Norwegian's first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which costs about 265 million U.S. dollars, arrived Wednesday morning at Oslo Airport at Gardermoen, about 50 km north of Oslo.

The aircraft's first commercial flight will commence on Feb. 27, from Oslo to Orlando and the aircraft will operate routes to and from London's Gatwick Airport, according to the company's statement.

"The delivery of Norwegian's first 787-9 marks our continued commitment to the company's global expansion ensuring travellers across the world access to high quality flights at a low fare," Norwegian's CEO Bjorn Kjos was quoted as saying.

"The 787-9 will give Norwegian unrivalled operational advantages, large improvements in fuel efficiency and much lower costs," he added.

The low-cost airline currently has eight Boeing 787-8s in its fleet and it has 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft on order in addition to 100 Boeing 737 MAX, 100 Airbus A320neo and 34 Boeing 737-800s.

The company will use its Boeing 787-9s to launch new routes across North America, South America and South-East Asia.

Norwegian is the second largest airline in Scandinavia and the third largest low-cost carrier in Europe. Norwegian was founded in 1993 and its headquarter is in Fornebu, Norway. Endit