Norwegian Air Shuttle, Europe’s third largest Low Cost Carrier (LCC) and the only LCC that flies across the North Atlantic, has announced that their expanding their presence in North America by bringing their low fares to Las Vegas, San Juan, Puerto Rico; and St. Croix, US Virgin Islands. The expansion will grow Norwegian Air Shuttle to 8 U.S. destinations, connecting 8 US cities to 5 nonstop destinations in Europe! In addition Norwegian annouced increased frequencies to New York and Los Angeles.
Red: New Routes Blue: Increased frequencies
Caribbean – San Juan, Puerto Rico
London Gatwick – two weekly departures on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Start date: November 4, 2015
Copenhagen – one weekly departure on Fridays. Start date: November 6, 2015
Stockholm – one weekly departure on Tuesdays. Start date: November 3, 2015
Oslo – one weekly departure on Sundays. Start date: November 1, 2015Caribbean – St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Copenhagen – one weekly departure on Fridays. Start date: November 9, 2015Las Vegas
Copenhagen – one weekly departure on Tuesdays. Start date: November 10, 2015
Stockholm – one weekly departure on Saturdays. Start date: October 31, 2015Pula – Croatia
London Gatwick – one weekly departure on Sundays. Start date: May 24, 2015Added frequencies on existing routes:
New York
London Gatwick: Norwegian will offer daily flights between London Gatwick and New York (JFK) as of November, 2015Los Angeles
London Gatwick: Norwegian will offer three weekly flights between Los Angeles and London Gatwick this winter season
Oslo: Norwegian will offer flights between Los Angeles and Oslo all year round
Since the airport shuttle service has entered the US market, fare wars between the legacy carriers and Norwegian on flights between the US and Europe and especially Scandinavia have gone rampant. Economy class fares are often selling for less than $650 round trip from the west coast. I was able to score a flight to Gothenburg this spring for just $565 on AA/BA from San Francisco and many other deals are available and continue to pop up.
Norwegian will be the largest nonstop carrier between Europe and San Juan, Puerto Rico, only competing with Air Europa’s twice weekly service to Madrid and Codor’s weekly service to Frankfurt. All other major airlines have ended long haul flying to Puerto Rico, including BA (2013), Iberia (2012), and American (2011). In St. Croix, Norwegian will have zero competition and will be the only airline offering long haul flights from the Virgin Islands!
Today’s announcement is a huge win for cost conscious travelers and will help connect more people across the United States and Europe. Norwegian Air Shuttle has a brand new long haul fleet of 787s and today’s announcement of new routes to the Caribbean further prove that the 787 can open up new routes that were once not financially viable!
Have you flown with Norwegian? If so please share your experience and thoughts of long haul low cost flying!
