Norwegian Air says it is having a good year compared to its low-cost competitors

Norwegian Air Shuttle AS, Europe’s fourth-biggest discount airline, said tickets for the first few months of long-haul flights connecting Scandinavia with New York have almost sold out as it works on plans for routes to Asia.

Norwegian Air will commence twice weekly services to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport from both Oslo and Stockholm in May using Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner planes due for delivery in April as it challenges Nordic rival SAS Group.

“When we opened for sale, our website crashed,” Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Kjos said today in an interview in the Norwegian capital. New York flights are “just about sold out,” he said, declining to specify the number of seats available.

Norwegian Air will also start flying to Bangkok three times a week in June, and aims to add a second Asian base within five years at most, Kjos added. The carrier will offer a third weekly New York flight from Oslo and Stockholm the same month.

With assistance from Kari Lundgren in London. Editors: Chris Jasper and Benedikt Kammel. To contact the reporter on this story: Kristin Myers in Oslo at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at [email protected].