Norwegian Announces New Routes Between Europe & The US (And Buys More Gatwick Slots Too)

a red and white airplane on a runway

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Norwegian, the low-cost carrier that appears to scare the heck out of British Airways, has announced that it will add to its routes across the Atlantic from next year. New York (JFK) and Los Angeles are the cities in the US getting the extra services and, considering the popularity of both with leisure travelers, this will be music to the ears of many.

Looking at it from another point of view, Angelenos and New Yorkers are about to get four new low-cost routes into three different European cities and none of them are London…so there shouldn’t be too many taxes inflating the fares.

Here are the routes announced yesterday in order of launch date:

Amsterdam – New York JFK

a brick path with trees and buildings on the side

From 7 May 2018 Norwegian will offer a service between Amsterdam and New York JFK 4x/week on the following schedule:

DY7701 AMS 12:25 – 14:25 JFK (Mon, Tue, Thu & Sat)
DY7700 JFK 18:30 – 07:30+1 day AMS (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)

Milan MXP – Los Angeles

The second new route Norwegian will be flying will start on 16 June 2018 and will operate between Milan Malpensa and Los Angeles on the following overly complicated schedule:

DY7749 MXP 08:50 – 12:05 LAX (Tue & Sat)
DY7749 MXP 13:25 – 16:40 LAX (Wed)
DY7749 MXP 17:55 – 21:10 LAX (Thu)

DY7748 LAX 1405 – 1020+1 day MXP 789 (Tue)
DY7748 LAX 1840 – 1455+1 day MXP 789 (Wed)
DY7748 LAX 2310 – 1925+1 day MXP 789 (Thu)
DY7748 LAX 2000 – 1615+1 day MXP 789 (Sun)

Madrid – Los Angeles

a city skyline in the distance

Los Angeles will be getting more love from Norwegian when the airline starts up service between Madrid and LAX on 15 July 2018.

Fortunately this route’s timings are slightly more regular than those out of Milan and the schedule looks like this:

DY7743 MAD 16:50 – 19:50 LAX (Mon)
DY7743 MAD 13:40 – 16:40 LAX (Wed, Fri & Sun)

DY7742 LAX 21:50– 17:30+1 day MAD (Mon)
DY7742 LAX 18:40– 14:20+1 day MAD (Wed, Fri & Sun)

Madrid – New York JFK

a city skyline with a body of water

Finally, from 18 July 2018 Norwegian will operate a second new route to New York JFK when it start a 3x/week service from Madrid on the following schedule:

DY7703 MAD 10:55 – 13:00 JFK (Wed, Fri & Sun)
DY7702 JFK 22:00 – 11:10+1 day MAD (Tue, Thu & Sat)

Once the new routes are operational Norwegian will offer 61 non-stop routes between Europe and the US…and that’s pretty incredible for an airline that hasn’t been around all that long.

All flights will be operated by Norwegian’s 787-9 Dreamliners which offer the following cabin layout:

  • 35 Premium seats with 46” of seat pitch and 19” of seat width
  • 309 Economy Class seats with 31” of seat pitch and 17” of seat width

All of Norwegian’s Dreamliners come with over-water Wi-Fi so you can remain connected all the way to your destination.

Norwegian Buys More Slots At London Gatwick

an aerial view of an airport

Norwegian has confirmed that it has purchased a further 28 weekly slots at London Gatwick which it plans to use to further expand its offering out of London’s second airport.

Norwegian Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Ramdahl is quoted a saying:

London Gatwick is at the heart of our global growth ambitions so securing these crucial new slots will allow us to offer our passengers even more new routes, additional flights and affordable fares. Together with the launch of new routes to Argentina, Chicago and Austin in 2018, gaining extra capacity at London Gatwick is another huge boost as we get ready for our biggest ever year in the UK.”

Thoughts

Every time I hear that Norwegian is launching a new route or that it’s buying more slots I get a little involuntary smile on my face.

Norwegian is the European low-cost carrier that the legacy airlines really fear…and I can see why.

Norwegian isn’t afraid to take on the legacy airlines on routes the legacies have dominated for years and it offers flyers (on both sides of the Atlantic) a genuine discounted product and a cheap way to get the other side of the Pond.

a white airplane on a runway

Sure, if you want to select your own seats and travel with a lot of luggage Norwegian’s pricing may end up not being any cheaper than the legacies…but for those who can travel light Norwegian can be a great option to have.

Even for those who don’t really like the idea of flying “low-cost” Norwegian should be a hero. It’s because airlines like Norwegian exist that we sometimes see the legacy carriers offering great fares across the Atlantic.

Norwegian’s fares help keep the legacy cartels airlines in check and anything that does that should be applauded by the traveling public – lets hope we get yet more new routes from Norwegian in 2018.

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