How To Fly Direct From U.S. Cities To Scandinavia This Winter
Despite the cold weather, Scandinavia is a popular tourist destination during the winter months.
From historic cities in their winter coats to the dancing Northern Lights, Scandinavia has a lot to offer visitors during the winter season.
However, with airlines like Norse Atlantic canceling flights from their winter schedules, it has become more difficult to get to Norway, Sweden and Denmark without changing planes. But it’s not impossible.
Flight to Norway
During the winter season, Norse Atlantic continues to fly to Oslo from Fort Lauderdale and New York, but frequency on both routes has been reduced as the airline tries to fill its planes. With only three weekly flights from JFK and two from Fort Lauderdale, this means the cheapest fares sell out fast.
The Orlando and Los Angeles to Oslo Nordic routes have been suspended but are expected to return in the spring.
Since United no longer flies to Oslo and only flies seasonally to Bergen, the only other way to reach Norway directly is Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) daily flight from Newark.
Flight to Denmark
Copenhagen is the main international hub for SAS and the airline appears to be maintaining its numerous US routes throughout the winter. That means direct flights to the Danish capital from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, San Francisco and Washington.
Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) operates direct flights from several US cities to Denmark, Norway and … [+]
A convenient option for frequent Delta flyers is Delta’s direct route from New York JFK to Copenhagen.
Flight to Sweden
Stockholm is another hub for SAS, and the airline has daily flights from Newark as well as regular flights from Chicago.
SAS Star Alliance partners United have switched on and off a direct service from Newark to Stockholm and although the airline has confirmed its return, it will not take off until May 2023. Delta has also confirmed the return of a direct service from New York JFK, but will only operate during the summer season.
More options with flight connections
When you’re ready to transfer, there are many other options available from other US airports. In particular, KLM/Delta offer direct flights to Amsterdam from several US cities. From Amsterdam there are connections to destinations across Scandinavia, including many smaller airports.
While these options are great in theory, keep in mind that Amsterdam Airport has suffered from major problems recently, including understaffing and long security queues.
Other good connections to the Scandinavian capitals are Air France via Paris, Lufthansa via several German cities and British Airways via London Heathrow.
Finally, another popular option is to fly over Iceland with Icelandair or Play. Many travelers choose to break up their trip by spending some time enjoying the attractions in and around Reykjavik.