Norwegian, which celebrated today its first anniversary of launching low-cost, long-haul flights between the UK and America, announced a new route to Boston. In July 2014, Norwegian became the first airline to offer low cost flights from the UK to New York, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale from as little as £179. Since then over 200,000 passengers have travelled on the routes from Gatwick, with Norwegian consistently achieving load factors in excess of 90 per cent.
From May 2016 Norwegian will open a new route to Boston with four weekly departures from Gatwick.
Thanks to increased demand for the routes, Norwegian will introduce a daily connection between Gatwick and New York (JFK) from October and new routes to Puerto Rico from November 2015 and Boston from May 2016. The new Massachusetts route will be Gatwick’s only direct service to Boston, operating four times per week.
Norwegian – which is now the third largest operator at Gatwick – is also preparing for its busiest ever summer in the UK with over one million passengers expected to jet off with the airline between July and September.
Gatwick Airport CEO Stewart Wingate said: “It has been a fantastic 12 months for Norwegian and Gatwick, with the launch of ground-breaking low cost long-haul routes to America, more flights added and now another exciting new USA destination announced.
Bjorn Kjos, Chief Executive of Norwegian Air, said: “This is an exciting time for Norwegian as we celebrate our first successful year of low-cost, long-haul flights and prepare for our busiest ever summer in the UK. Over 200,000 passengers have now chosen to fly transatlantic with Norwegian, and with additional Dreamliners set to be based at Gatwick next year we can add further exciting destinations such as Boston.
“Our continued growth in the UK demonstrates the need for quality, affordable travel. Our free inflight Wi-Fi on flights within Europe, fleet of brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliners on transatlantic routes and affordable fares give us a competitive advantage. Norwegian is fast becoming a household name for UK travellers and we look forward to welcoming a record breaking one million customers aboard Europe’s youngest fleet his summer.”
Norwegian currently has nine aircraft based at London Gatwick, including two Boeing 787 Dreamliners. These technologically advanced aircraft are the key to operating long-haul, low-cost flights as they use 20% less fuel per passenger compared to similar sized aircraft. The airline was named the ‘World’s best low cost, long haul airline’ by Skytrax last month.
