Political hurdles

Norwegian must be cursing the Brexit vote, having just opened its new UK headquarters close to London Gatwick Airport.

One of the motivations for the low-cost carrier setting up shop in the UK is to tap the benefits of being in an EU country.

Norwegian has already set up Dublin-based Norwegian Air International in Ireland, but after sluggish progress towards its US foreign air carrier permit, it turned to the UK and created Norwegian Air UK.

The Brexit vote must have come just as it was putting the finishing touches on its shiny new UK HQ - its first outside Norway.

With the UK’s decision to exit the EU and the government's painfully slow decision making over additional London airport capacity, affecting Norwegian's ambitious growth plans at Gatwick, plus the lengthy delays to its US foreign air carrier permit applications, Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos must be feeling more than a little frustrated with UK and US politics. Possibly even as frustrated as the Brits and the Americans.

However back in March, before the Brexit vote, he was still in good humor.

“What do we think about Brexit? Well, we don’t fly there yet, but if it has potential, we’d definitely think about it,” he joked at an Aviation Club lunch in London. “I understand [the UK’s position]. We didn’t even dare to go in [to the EU].”

On a more serious note, he said he felt the UK was better staying in the EU, but he’d continue to build Norwegian’s UK network, whether the vote went out or in.

Let’s see how that plays out now it’s a reality.