Virgin Atlantic (VS, London Heathrow) has launched a scheduled one-way cargo-only route from Harstad/Narvik in northern Norway to New York JFK to support the export of Norwegian salmon.

The British carrier operated the first flight on July 22, 2021. It plans to run the route weekly using B787-9 aircraft in a cargo-only configuration. The aircraft flies to Norway from London Heathrow and returns from New York to London again, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

The route is Harstad-Narvik's first transatlantic service, either for passenger or cargo traffic. The ch-aviation schedules module shows that the airport sees exclusively domestic passenger traffic with flights operated by SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Widerøe, and Norwegian. Qatar Airways operates weekly cargo-only services from the airport to Doha Hamad International using B777-200F dedicated freighters.

For Virgin Atlantic, the route is the only scheduled service not touching its main hub at London Heathrow.