Norwegian has welcomed news that its British subsidiary has been granted a foreign air carrier permit by the US department of transportation.

The permit allows Norwegian UK to operate flights between the UK, Europe and the United States.

The subsidiary was set up in 2015 to allow Norwegian to build on its growing long-haul operations by accessing bilateral traffic rights to a series of global markets.

Using the new traffic rights, Norwegian has already announced plans for new routes to Singapore launching next week and Argentina starting in February 2018.

With a US foreign carrier permit also now received for NUK, Norwegian will be able to establish a seamless operation and more effectively utilise its long-haul fleet – this includes the use of the same aircraft across all long-haul routes including the US, Singapore, Argentina and other future long-haul markets.

Norwegian already employs more than 1,000 pilots and crew at London Gatwick, and the airline’s continued UK growth will lead to thousands more jobs and economic benefits.

Norwegian chief executive, Bjørn Kjos, said: “This is great news for Norwegian and passengers on both sides of the Atlantic, enabling us to offer even more new routes, greater choice and lower fares.

“Our Norwegian UK subsidiary has already opened the door to a range of new markets, so securing access to the US is the final piece of the jigsaw, allowing us to operate a seamless operation with affordable fares to a range of global destinations.”

Work will now begin to establish which elements of Norwegian’s existing long-haul operations (including new and existing routes, aircraft and crew) will be operated by the NUK subsidiary in future.

Norwegian already flies from five UK airports (Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Belfast) carrying over five million UK passengers each year to more than 50 destinations.