Norwegian (Oslo Gardermoen) Chief Executive Officer Bjørn Kjos says Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA is actively pursuing Air Operator Certificates (AOC) in the United Kingdom and Spain in a bid to tap into each country's bilateral air service traffic rights. At present, Norwegian holds four AOCs, three of which are Norwegian - Norwegian Air Norway (Oslo Gardermoen), Norwegian Long Haul (Oslo Gardermoen) and Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS). The other is Irish and is for its controversial Norwegian Air International (Dublin International) subsidiary.
Kjos told The Wall Street Journal that the carrier expects a response from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) about its application for a British AOC later this summer. Should the certificate be granted, it would give the budget carrier preferential access to markets such as India.
Though Kjos alluded to a similar effort in Spain, he did not expand on how a potential Spanish operation would be structured given that at least 51% of any Spanish airline must rest in local hands for it to benefit from the country's bilateral air services agreements with nations external to the European Common Aviation Area.
Last month, Norwegian's director of investor relations, Tore Østby, alluded to plans to develop longhaul bases at Paris Orly and Barcelona El Prat to compliment those at London Gatwick, Copenhagen Kastrup, Stockholm Arlanda, and Oslo Gardermoen.
