[3][4] The airline was announced on 15 March 2021, alongside its plans to begin selling tickets in the fall of 2021 for the start of scheduled commercial flights in December 2021.

[8] Following Norse Atlantic's debut on the Oslo stock market on 12 April 2021, the company raised upwards of 1.4 billion Norwegian kroner ($165 million US dollars) in its initial public offering (IPO).

[17] In September 2021, the airline within its application to the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) for a foreign air carrier permit outlined the operation of flights from Oslo to Fort Lauderdale, Newburgh, and Ontario airports, serving the Miami, New York City, and Los Angeles areas respectively.

[23] On 15 March 2022, a year following Norse Atlantic's public reveal, the airline announced that it planned to begin ticket sales in April 2022 with the launch of operations to occur during June 2022, and that it had been allocated slots at London's Gatwick Airport.

[28] The airline announced its second European destination outside of Oslo on 8 June 2022, with flights from Berlin to both New York JFK and Los Angeles, respectively on 17 and 18 August 2022.

[32][33] In November 2022, the airline announced the addition of both Paris Charles de Gaulle and Rome Fiumicino as destinations to launch in March and June 2023 respectively.

[43] In addition to its scheduled operations, Norse Atlantic entered wet lease agreements over varying periods for part of its fleet with various airlines, including IndiGo,[44] Neos,[45] and TUI fly Nordic.

[61] Norse Atlantic Airways began operations with transatlantic flights between destinations in North America and Europe, before later expanding to Asia.

The following table lists the collective current and former scheduled and charter destinations of the airline and its subsidiary as of November 2024[update], but does not include destinations operated on behalf of other airlines via aircraft lease agreements:[62] Norse Atlantic Airways mantains virtual interlining agreements with the following airlines:[72] As of January 2025[update], the collective fleet of Norse Atlantic Airways and its subsidiary consists of the following aircraft: 1 to leased out to IndiGo[73] from March 2025 In March 2021, Norse Atlantic announced that it had planned to operate a fleet of 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, and that it had secured leasing rights for its first nine, consisting of three 787-8s and 6 787-9s from AerCap.

[8] In August 2021, the airline leased an additional six 787-9s from BOC Aviation, increasing its total planned fleet to 15 787s,[11] and Norse Atlantic subsequently received its first 787-9 in December 2021.

[20] In April 2022, the airline announced it would lease two 787-8s and two 787-9s to Air Europa for 18 months while Norse Atlantic would undergo its initial startup operations.

[82] Following Norse Atlantic's public reveal in March 2021, observers and media outlets drew comparisons to the similarity of its business model to Norwegian Air Shuttle and its long-haul operations,[6] which were announced to have ended in January of that year.

[85] During May 2021, the airline reached agreements with unions representing flight attendants including those based in the United States, prior to their employment.