STEWART – When start-up airline Norse applied to the US Department of Transportation for permission to provide service to America, it specifically listed New York Stewart International, Orlando, and Los Angeles as cities to be served from their hub in Oslo, Norway.
Now, as the airline is about to begin US service, it decided not to use Stewart, but rather its larger sister airport, JFK International.
“We are eager to commence operations to SWF and intend to add it to our network as soon as it can handle the cargo we will bring to and from the United States,” said Norse Director of Communications Lasse Sandaker-Nielson. “Cargo will be a significant part of our inbound revenues, consequently enabling us to offer affordable fares to our customers.”
Orange County Chamber of Commerce President Heather Bell Meyer is disappointed with the airline’s change of plans.
“As one of the leaders of the Stewart Air Service Development Committee, this is disappointing to say the least, considering that we are working tremendously hard as a coalition to improve the traffic in and out of Stewart and show the value of the airport and the surrounding area and all it has to offer both domestically and internationally,” she said. “To say that this is disappointing is an understatement.”
Sander-Nielsen said they have “ongoing discussions with SWF about future operations and we are grateful for all the support.”
Both Stewart and JFK are operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and while JFK is much larger with significantly more flights, it is a congested facility.
The Port Authority markets Stewart as a convenient, uncongested airport and offers incentives for airlines to serve the Hudson Valley.
