DALLAS — Norse Atlantic Airways (N0) has officially arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, marking its entry into the African market with fare-paying passengers on board.

The flight, Z0795, originates from London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and is operated by one of their five London-based 787-9 Dreamliners. In this case, G-CKQF, named “Redwood,” was handed the inaugural duties. 

The flight was fully booked and played host to the airline’s CEO Bjørn Tore Larsen, along with press and regular passengers.

Norse Atlantic will operate this service every two days, with the outbound leg, Z0795, departing LGW at 8:30 pm GMT before arriving in Cape Town Airport (CPT) at 9:50 am local time the following morning.

The aircraft will be immediately turned around on the ground before returning to London as Z0796, arriving in London at 21:20 that evening. They intend to operate this service as a winter seasonal service and increase their service to a greater frequency next year.

Comments from Norse CEO

In an interview with Airways, the CEO stated that the idea of Cape Town came to him during the airline’s one-off visit to the city in 2023 when it was used as a staging ground for their operation to the Troll Ice Runway in Antarctica.

He outlined that, during that trip, he needed to return unexpectedly to London, and the prices and lack of available seats were a great problem for him. It was there that he saw a gap in the market.

Norse Atlantic will naturally be facing great competition on this service, both directly from London, with the likes of Virgin Atlantic (VS) and British Airways (BA), and somewhat more indirect routes via Paris, Amsterdam, or Frankfurt, just to name a few.

However, the trait that N0’s competitors all have in common is that they are all full-service airlines. Conversely, N0 is breaking into the market as a low-cost, long-haul operator, offering fewer frills at lower prices.

The airline’s CEO hopes that customers will see their prices and see them as a “no-brainer.”

Flight 795 touched down on CPT’s runway 19 at 10:22 am local time, half an hour behind schedule, but was welcomed by a water cannon salute on landing.

The airline has been expanding slowly since its inception in 2021, taking a less aggressive and more careful approach to entering new markets. With a fully booked inaugural flight to Cape Town, it would seem that N0 has chosen this market very wisely indeed.