Norwegian Air: $65 one-way fares from Northeast to Europe now on sale
Ben Mutzabaugh , USA TODAY
Norwegian Air is bringing nonstop European flights to three small Northeast airports, adding 10 new trans-Atlantic routes that initially will go on sale for as little as $65 one way.
As of early Wednesday morning, the $65 fares (taxes included) to Europe showed fairly broad availability on Norwegian's website -- though the fares had largely dried up by mid-afternoon. While they lasted, the introductory return fares were roughly $80-$100 from the airports in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Long-term, Norwegian says its lowest fares on the routes will start at $99 one way. Norwegian’s bargain-basement introductory fares come as it leads a new set of European discount airlines set their sights on U.S. airports. Norwegian, along with Icelandic upstart WOW Air, have added multiple new routes between the USA and Europe during the past two years.
As for the new routes coming to the U.S. Northeast, Norwegian will fly nonstop from Newburgh to Belfast, Northern Ireland; Dublin; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Shannon, Ireland. From Providence, Norwegian also will fly to the Irish city of Cork. Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport near Hartford landed nonstop service to Edinburgh.
While Norwegian first made its mark in the U.S. with its Boeing Dreamliners, the carrier's new service comes as it prepares to begin flying its first Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
The “MAX” is the newest variant of Boeing’s best-selling 737 narrowbody, and the updated narrowbody planes will be capable of flying nonstop from the U.S. East Coast to many cities in Western Europe. Sande said the new Northeast service “wouldn’t be possible if we didn’t get the 737” to fly the routes.
“This is just the start,” he said. “We have over 200 aircraft on order, so we’ll be looking for these kind of routes with the MAX.”
http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2017/02/23/norwegian-65-one-way-fares-northeast-europe-now-sale/98289488/ United, American, and Delta CEO's will not be sleeping well tonight.
Norwegian's CEO is also working on closing an agreement with Ryanair that would feed passengers from its European low-cost carrier network into his Irish and Scottish flights to the USA.
