Between the current cost of jet fuel and the anti-immigration politics and rhetoric of the Trump administration, international travel to the U.S. has been in a slump that continues to deepen.
The latest numbers from the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office show that the 3.1 million international visitors who crossed into the U.S. in August 2026 are a 11.8% drop from the same month a year ago. While the summer did bring an influx of arrivals for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the overall numbers for July were still a 7% decrease from the same month in 2025.
For airlines, these shifting trends have meant having to continuously review flight networks to prioritize high-traffic routes and cut any underperforming ones that for many carriers are ones to U.S. cities.
Norse Atlantic Airways axes New York route, cuts all but one flight to the United States
Air Canada has recently confirmed another round of flight cuts to cities such as New York, Detroit and Orlando from Toronto and Montréal while Air France and Lufthansa also cut or downsized dozens of U.S.-bound routes this year.
The latest carrier to join that list is Oslo-based budget airline Norse Atlantic Airways. The airline started flying out of the Norwegian capital in June 2022 with a vision of bringing the low-cost business model to transatlantic flights and at its peak ran dozens of flights to European capitals like Berlin, Paris, Rome and Athens from U.S. cities including New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Orlando.
Related: Germany is the latest country to urge for travel caution in the U.S.
After pulling out of LAX and canceling some other U.S. routes earlier this year, Norse Atlantic is now also cutting two flights from New York’s JFK to London Gatwick (LGW) and Rome Fiumicino (FCO) airports. Both routes will be phased out by October 25.
The schedule cuts first reported by watchdog website AeroRoutes mean that Norse Atlantic will now run only one last remaining flight to the U.S. between Orlando International (MCO) and LGW while redirecting its fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes to holiday flights to Thailand from Scandinavian cities such as Oslo and Stockholm.
The airline also runs a seasonal route between London and Cape Town in South Africa that is especially unusual for a low-cost airline.
Image source: Norse Atlantic Airways
“We remain mindful of our capacity allocation”: Norse Atlantic CEO
All of this is a remarkable pivot for a carrier that once built its entire business model on connecting the U.S. and Europe.
The route cuts are part of general cost-cutting measures as Norse aims to reduce its expenses by $50 million by 2027. Its most recent earnings report was a second-quarter net loss of $70.6 million USD as well as a revenue drop of 34.8%.
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“As fuel prices remain elevated, we remain mindful of our capacity allocation in the coming months in line with our flexible fleet deployment strategy,” Norse Atlantic Chief Executive Officer Eivind Roald said in a statement without elaborating on the reasons for the lower traveler numbers. “Bookings for the upcoming winter season continue to show promise.”
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