Norway’s Flyr chooses aircraft, sets to launch in Summer 2021

Shutterstock / Renatas Repcinskas

Norwegian startup airline Flyr confirms to have chosen the Boeing 737-800 aircraft and is set to launch operations in Summer 2021. 

Flyr, which plans to have a fleet of 28-30 aircraft, confirmed the choice of Boeing 737-800 on January 18, 2021. “It’s an aircraft that we in management have a lot of experience with, also there is simulator capacity in Norway and crew and mechanics with ample experience and competence,” says Erik G. Braathen, the founder of Flyr.

The Oslo-based airline plans to find funding of NOK 600 million (€58 million) entirely through private investments. “The capital will be sufficient to fund a lean organization with the people and competencies needed,” said Tonje Wikstrøm Frislid, the CEO of Flyr.

The launch of operations, serving larger Norwegian cities and popular destinations in Europe, is planned in Summer 2021. Ticket sales are expected to start in April 2021.

“We have said that we will adapt the number of airplanes to market demand. Adaptability and flexibility will be highly important going forward, even though the future looks brighter for the industry now than it did a few months ago,” says Wikstrøm Frislid.

On December 5, 2020, the company, owned by the former CEO of Braathens SAFE and board member of Norwegian Air Shuttle Erik G. Braathen, announced its name and launched the website. Flyr plans to serve domestic Norwegian routes and connect European cities. With a base in Oslo Airport (OSL), it aims to be in competition with airlines such as Norwegian Air, SAS Scandinavian Airlines and Wizz Air.

30 employees are already working in the company. Many of them were hired from Norwegian Air Shuttle. For instance Frislid, the CEO of the new airline, is the former vice president at Norwegian. 

In January 2021, Flyr’s competitor Norwegian Air Shuttle, currently undergoing a restructuring phase, announced it was dropping the low-cost long-haul operating model. In March 2020 the carrier retired its two Boeing 787 Dreamliners and sent at least six of its Dreamliners to Ireland’s Shannon Airport (SNN) in order for lessors to re-possess them in early-January 2021. The struggling airline plans to “focus on its core Nordics business, operating a European short-haul network with narrow-body aircraft”. 

 

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