NEW YORK – When Norse Atlantic Airways applied to the US Department of transportation to provide international service to the United States, it specifically named New York Stewart International Airport as one of three facilities it would serve.
At some point after the airline won approval, it switched from Stewart to JFK and when questioned about the shift by Mid-Hudson News, officials said it was because Stewart did not have the cargo volume needed to keep airfares down.
The question persists that wouldn’t their research have shown that during their initial application process?
Alex Minton, the Port Authority’s director of airline attraction, is disappointed about the Norse change of plans but hopes they service the Hudson Valley in the future.
“I can’t speak on how they made their decision, but I will say that we would love to have them here at Stewart just as we are thrilled to have Play, and we are hoping that not just carriers like Norse, but other carriers see the success of Play and see the opportunity here to have a captive audience to come join us at Stewart and offer routes to other places that people want to fly,” he said.
Play Airlines based in Iceland is now offering flights from Stewart to Reykjavík with connections to dozens of European cities.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates both JFK and Stewart.
