Norwegian Air Shuttle, still awaits US Department of Transportation (DOT) approval for its Norwegian Air International long-haul subsidiary, which will fly from northeast US cities to the Caribbean in the winter. This is even though it should be a straight forward formaility given that Guadeloupe and Martinique are legally part of France/European Union and as such the flights are allowed under the US-EU Open Skies agreement.
Norwegian will operate seasonally as 3X-weekly flights from New York JFK to the Guadeloupe Islands and Martinique as well as twice-weekly service to the Caribbean destinations from both Baltimore/Washington (BWI) and Boston (BOS) from 3rd December 2015. The flights, to be operated using 737-800s configured with 186 seats.
In announcing the Guadeloupe and Martinique flights, CEO Bjørn Kjos reiterated Norwegian’s US commitment, saying, “We will continue to expand in the US, by launching new routes and establishing more US bases.”