Norwegian to reopen base in Las Palmas, Canary Islands

Norwegian Air Shuttle has announced it is reopening its base in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (LPA), in the Canary Islands, in the next winter season.   

The Spanish archipelago off the coast of North Africa is a popular tourist destination in Norwegian’s core Nordic markets. The two Boeing 737 aircraft that will be based in Las Palmas will predominantly serve destinations in Scandinavia.  

So far, Stockholm (ARN) and Gothenburg-Landvetter (GOT) in Sweden, and Oslo (OSL) and Torp-Sandefjord (TRF) in Norway, have been confirmed as destinations that will be served from the Las Palmas base. 

From the 2024/2025 winter season, Las Palmas will become Norwegian’s fourth base in Spain, after Alicante (ALC), Barcelona (BCN), Málaga (AGP). Norwegian also operates a seasonal base in Palma de Mallorca (PMI) during the summer months. 

Before the COVID pandemic, Norwegian had operated two bases in the Canary Islands, Tenerife Sur (TFS) and Las Palmas. In 2019 Norwegian carried more than 1.7 million passengers on its Canarian services, nearly a quarter of its traffic to and from Spain. 

However, the two bases were closed in 2021, as Norwegian downsized amid serious financial difficulties. The Oslo-based low-cost airline continued to serve Spanish destinations, but only with aircraft and crews based in the Nordic region. 

From 2023, as the airline’s financial situation improved, Norwegian gradually reopened its bases in Barcelona, Alicante, and Malaga, although with a reduced structure compared to prior to 2019. 

Norwegian will employ between 80 and 120 people at its new base in Las Palmas. 

Norwegian is not the only airline from northern Europe that has seen an opportunity to base part of its fleet in the Canary Islands during the winter season, taking advantage of the year-round holiday season in the archipelago. In December 2023, Riga-based airBaltic announced its intention to base two of its Airbus A220 aircraft in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, from where it will operate to a number of destinations in the Baltics and the Nordic region.