Major U.S airline United Airlines has announced the launch of a new route to Norway.
The aircraft will depart from New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport and will land in the Norwegian city of Bergen.
United chooses Norway (again)
The new route from Newark Liberty International to Bergen Airport, also known as Flesland Airport, is due to start on 20 May. The service will be run by Boeing 757-200s.
The Illinois-based carrier used to operate a service to Norway (particularly a Newark-Oslo route) but stopped the service in September 2016.
Now, likely due to demand, United Airlines is back in the European country. It will run the Newark-Bergen route three times a week. It is a seasonal route that will run for only 19 weeks to cover the summer season of travel. The last departure from Bergen back to New Jersey is on 27 September.
Flights will depart from Newark Liberty International every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and will return from Bergen back to the States every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
If successful, it is safe to assume that the route will become a regular staple in United’s summer schedule.
The U.S was Norway’s 3rd most popular non-Nordic country for international tourists, behind only the UK and Germany. Bergen in particular is a popular site for tourists because of its proximity to stunning mountains and fjords (including Sognefjord, the country’s longest and deepest). The city is also home to where the renowned composer Edvard Grieg once lived and is a UNESCO World Heritage City.
Bergen will now also be connected to the states – New Jersey, and New York and of course can connect from there to anywhere across the U.S and Canada.
So, the attraction is there, and as the aviation sector gears up for a busy summer of travel there’s little doubt as to whether the new Newark-Bergen route will be an attractive and profitable site for both parties.
Bergan Airport is an international airport located in Flesland and the municipality of Bergen. The airport is operated by the state-owned Avinor, the company that operates the majority of the civil airports in Norway.
Gaute Riise, Avinor’s Vice President of Traffic Development, spoke positively of the launch of the new route and how it benefits Bergan Airport specifically:
“Our focus is on rebuilding a sustainable route portfolio for our airports. The world is at an underlying stage with geopolitical turmoil and a pandemic that restricts some markets. But the market for inbound tourism is expected to be strong [helped] by Norway having no COVID restrictions.”
As well as this route, Bergan Airport is welcoming four other U.S routes but with low-cost, long-haul Norweigan airline Norse Atlantic ( which was founded in February 2021).
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