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(Corrects 3rd paragraph to say SAS also flies to Asia fromSweden; in 2nd para inserts missing word "airspace", corrects infinal para to say order was placed in 2015 not "last October")
By Joachim Dagenborg
OSLO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Norwegian Air is lobbyingits government to scrap a deal which prevents it from flying the"Siberian Corridor" over Russia, the shortest route betweenScandinavia and Asia.
Russia only allows one airline per country to use itsairspace and under the terms of a 1956 Soviet-era deal withDenmark, Norway and Sweden only Scandinavian Airlinesand Aeroflot can fly the route.
Since Scandinavia is three countries and SAS, which ispartly owned by all three, only flies direct to Asia fromDenmark and Sweden, Norway should rework the deal, Norwegian Airargues.
Europe's third-largest budget airline by passenger numbersafter Ryanair and EasyJet has to take a longer,more expensive route for its flights to Thailand.
Now Norwegian Air wants to fly elsewhere in Asia and itsexecutives met Norway's foreign minister Boerge Brende onTuesday to see if the deal could be replaced.
"We have our planes ready to go and we want to start flyingthese direct routes to Asia as soon as possible, but we can'tbecause of this incredibly outdated deal," its spokeswoman said.
"Most of these Asian routes will never happen if we are notallowed to fly over Siberia. It would be so much more expensivethat we haven't even bothered to do the maths."
Scandinavian Airlines said it would not stand in the way ofa new deal, while Russia's flights authority and Norway'stransport ministry did not immediately comment.
"We would very much like to see free competition overSiberia, and have lobbied for this on several occasions", an SASspokesman said.
Norwegian Air, which has previously said it would beinterested in flying direct to China, Japan, Hong Kong, Indiaand Pakistan, hopes a new deal will open up the route to otherairlines and aims to take a larger share of the Asia-to-Europemarket, helped by its ability to offer cheaper airfares.
And with an increasing number of flights between the U.S andEurope, Norwegian Air believes it can create a new "highway"from the U.S. to Asia via Norway's capital.
"Right now we are stopped by this outdated deal, but we hopethat will change," the spokeswoman said, adding it would alsoconsider direct routes to several Russian cities.
Norwegian Air has ordered $18.5 billion worth of planes fromBoeing so far, including a deal for up to 29 Dreamlinersin October 2015, and after its Irish subsidiary was grantedapproval for trans-Atlantic routes to the U.S in December, itsaid it would consider buying even more planes. (Additional reporting by Gleb Stolyarov in Moscow; Editing byAlexander Smith and David Evans)
