Norwegian Air Shuttle Orders up to 84 Boeing 737s

Norwegian Air Shuttle has ordered 42 Boeing 737-800s to add to 11 new 737-800s it has agreed to lease and which will be delivered to the airline beginning in 2008. The fast-growing carrier, which recently bought competitor FlyNordic, also has secured purchase rights on an additional 42 737-800s. All of Norwegian's 737-800s, including its leased aircraft, will be fitted with perfromance-enhancing Blended Winglets. Credit: Boeing Photo

Low-fare airline Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA has ordered 42 Boeing 737-800s, and has secured purchase rights for an additional 42.

Boeing values the order at $3.1 billion at list prices. The manufacturer says the order is the largest ever from any Scandinavian carrier and is the largest European order this year for the 737.

This direct purchase comes on top of recent decision by Norwegian to add 11 Boeing 737-800s to its fleet through lease agreements. All of the 737-800s, including those on lease, will be fitted with advanced-technology Blended Winglets, which reduce aerodynamic drag and so reduce fuel consumption and related carbon emissions, by 3 to 5 percent.

Oslo-headquartered Norwegian selected the Next-Generation 737 for the backbone of its fleet as it expands its route network throughout Europe. Its recent acquisition of Stockholm-based FlyNordic has made Norwegian Europe's fourth largest low-cost carrier, as measured by 2006 passenger traffic, according to Boeing.

The carrier said the new 737s will help establish it as a preferred low-cost option far beyond its home base of Scandinavia.

"The new airplanes will strengthen Norwegian's competitive position in the Norwegian, Nordic and European aviation markets," said Bjørn Kjos, CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle. "Also, the airplanes are significantly more environmentally friendly than the ones we use today. These airplanes will reduce Norwegian's CO2 emissions and bring down fuel costs, while noise levels are considerably lower than for other airplanes."

On a typical Norwegian Air Shuttle 820 nautical-mile mission, 737-800s with Blended Winglets will burn 22 percent less fuel and produce 22 percent less CO2 per passenger than the 737-300s that Norwegian currently operates, said Boeing.

The 737 is the most successful commercial airplane family in history. Boeing has more than 1,700 unfilled orders for the Next-Generation 737. Boeing values these orders at more than $120 billion at current list prices.

Norwegian started operations on Sept. 1, 2002, serving four domestic routes with a fleet of six Boeing 737-300s. In December 2003, Norwegian was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Today the airline has 22 Boeing 737-300s and eight MD-80s (which are operated by FlyNordic), and it will take delivery of 11 new Boeing 737-800s on lease from 2008 to 2010.

Most of the aircraft in the carrier's current fleet are leased, except for two Boeing 737-300s, which Norwegian owns. The company now serves 122 routes linking 75 destinations.

Headquartered in the Oslo suburb of Fornebu (which was the site of Oslo's airport until 1998, when a new, larger airport was opened much further from the city at Gardermoen), Norwegian has 1,250 employees.

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