Travelore News: Norwegian Launches New Routes To The Caribbean And Croatia From London Gatwick

Norwegian continues to expand its long-haul network with new direct routes. Starting November 2015, Norwegian will launch a non-stop service between London Gatwick and the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. As of May 2015, Pula in Croatia will be a new destination from London Gatwick. The airline is also adding more weekly flights between London Gatwick and New York.

“The response we’ve had on our intercontinental destinations has been overwhelming and it is obvious that affordable fares were scarce before Norwegian entered the market. This makes it even more enjoyable to add more destinations to our route map of more than 100 destinations. We are looking forward to welcoming new and returning customers on our new routes between London Gatwick and the Caribbean,” said Norwegian’s Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Ramdahl.

“We are also adding more weekly flights between New York and London Gatwick, and Los Angeles and London Gatwick because of the great response. Pula in Croatia is also a new destination from London Gatwick this summer,” he added.

Norwegian has a long-haul and a short-haul base for cabin crew and pilots at London Gatwick. The routes across the Atlantic will be operated by the Gatwick-based crew and Norwegian’s US-based crew.

An excellent starting point for island hopping in the Caribbean
Norwegian’s new Caribbean destination from Gatwick will be popular among sun- and adventure seekers; Puerto Rico is an excellent starting point for island hopping. The introductory fare from London Gatwick to Puerto Rico is £269 one way.

"Puerto Rico is more than ready to broaden its horizons in the European market and we are very excited to welcome Norwegian's new service to San Juan. Puerto Rico offers an outstanding variety of options making it an attractive a five-star Caribbean destination accessible to British and Scandinavian travelers. We are certain that Norwegian’s five weekly flights will significantly boost and diversify the tourism industry in Puerto Rico. We look forward to a productive partnership with Norwegian,” stated Ingrid I. Rivera Rocafort, Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company.

Today, Norwegian also launches direct flights between Scandinavia and Puerto Rico, as well as flights between the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Croix, and Copenhagen. Las Vegas is also a brand new destination; the airline will now offer flights between Stockholm/Copenhagen and Las Vegas.

New routes:

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, 2015

Caribbean – St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
Copenhagen – one weekly departure on Fridays. Start date: November 9, 2015

Las Vegas
Copenhagen – one weekly departure on Tuesdays. Start date: November 10, 2015
Stockholm – one weekly departure on Saturdays. Start date: October 31, 2015

Pula – Croatia
London Gatwick – one weekly departure on Sundays. Start date: May 24, 2015

Added frequencies on existing routes:

New York
London Gatwick: Norwegian will offer daily flights between London Gatwick and New York (JFK) as of November, 2015

Los 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

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, commercially branded “Norwegian”, is a low-cost airline listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Norwegian is the second largest airline in Scandinavia and third largest low cost carrier in Europe. The company reported its highest ever passenger figures in a single year with almost 24 million passengers in 2014. Norwegian has a route portfolio that stretches across Europe into North Africa and the Middle East, as well as long-haul flights to the US and Southeast Asia. The company has a total of 424 routes to 130 destinations and employs approximately 4,500 people in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, UK, Spain and Thailand. The company has 258 undelivered aircraft on firm order. Norwegian was founded in 1993 and its headquarter is in Fornebu, Norway. Norwegian offers better leg room than most competitors, in-flight WiFi on short haul, world-class punctuality and a fleet of 96 aircraft with an average age of only four years. In 2013 and 2014, Norwegian was voted Europe’s best low-cost carrier of the year by the renowned SkyTrax World Airline Awards. In 2014, Norwegian also won three prizes at the prestigious Passenger Choice Awards for Best Airline in Europe, Best Inflight Connectivity & Communications and Best Single Achievement in Passenger Experience for its moving map on the 787 Dreamliners. In addition, Norwegian was awarded Europe's best low-cost airline by AirlineRatings.com for the second year running.

Travelore News: Wow Air Introduces Low Cost Transatlantic Flights Via Iceland

At ITB Berlin 2015 the Icelandic budget carrier Wow Air announced the introduction of its new transatlantic services. From March 27, flights from Keflavik to Boston and Washington will connect with flights from London and Copenhagen, and, beginning on June 4, with services from Berlin-Schönefeld as well.

At a later date other year-round European services to Amsterdam, Dublin and Paris will also be included, according to the company’s founder and CEO Skúli Mogensen. He stated that half of the 50 million passengers who cross the Atlantic annually are obliged to change planes. He wants to persuade passengers to switch from other hubs to Iceland, because the lowest price is the decisive factor.

Wow Air has acquired two Airbus A321’s seating 200, and 24 of these seats have more legroom and are available at a higher fare. A stopover program in Iceland, such as is available from the competing Icelandair, is currently in preparation. In 2016 Wow Air intends to offer additional destinations in North America, and details will be announced in the autumn. Two additional A321’s and an A320 are being acquired for this purpose.

Source: ITB