Wow. Norwegian Operated Just Nine Aircraft In December 2020
It isn't news that the global pandemic has been disastrous for the airline industry, but it's worth remembering that even when it comes to disasters there are varying levels of severity. For some airlines, this crisis has been significantly more disastrous than for others, and Norwegian is one airline that's among those that have been hit the worst.
Norwegian Furloughs A Further 1,600 Staff As It Battles To Survive
Yesterday, the Norwegian government confirmed that there would be no further financial aid offered to Norwegian despite the pleas of the airline's CEO, and now we're getting news that the airline has furloughed the vast majority of its employees leaving it with little more than a skeleton workforce. The situation at Norwegian has never looked so bleak.
Norwegian Is On The Brink – No More Government Support
We may be about to see the first major airline casualty of the current crisis and it's a casualty that quite a few people have been expecting for some time. Today, the government of Norway has announced that, as far as Norwegian is concerned, the wells have dried up and that it will not be offering the airline any further financial support.
Norwegian Completes Restructuring & Qualifies For Government Aid
On 19 March 2020, the Norwegian government announced that it was prepared to inject 6 billion Norwegian Krone (~$600m) to airlines under its jurisdiction with half of that sum earmarked for Norwegian. However, unlike a number of other governments who have bailed out their national carriers with very few caveats, the Norwegian government insisted that Norwegian meet certain strict criteria before it could qualify for all the aid available. As of today, Norwegian has met all those criteria.
Norwegian Begins Charging For Carry-On Baggage
It's no secret that Norwegian's finances have been strained to near breaking point in the past few years so the airline's latest move to introduce new fees for carry-on baggage probably shouldn't come as a surprise. Nevertheless, they're disappointing.
Big News: JetBlue & Norwegian Say They Intend To Partner Up
JetBlue and Norwegian have just announced that they have signed a Letter of Intent for an interline agreement which will "allow customers to combine low fares in a convenient single booking for connecting flights between the Americas and Europe".
Norwegian Is Adding More Flights Between the US & Europe
Norwegian hasn't been going through the best of time of late with but with a big restructuring underway and a number of creditors placated (at least for the time being), the airline is now looking to increase services on some of its high-value routes as its quest for profitability continues.
Norwegian UK Sale: Short-Haul From £28.90 & Long-Haul From £134.90 (One-Way)
Embattled low-cost carrier Norwegian has launched a UK sale offering discounts on flights between London and various cities within Europe as well as on flights between London and destinations in the US and South America. Short-haul fares start from £28.90 (one-way) while flights to the US start at £134.90 (one-way).
Norwegian Cancels All Flights Between Ireland & North America
As of 15 September 2019, Norwegian is discontinuing all of its routes between Ireland and North America and is contacting customers with offers to accommodate them on other Norwegian flights or offering refunds.
Norwegian Cancels 10 US Routes For Winter & 2 Routes Indefinitely
Norwegian is going through a serious cost-cutting exercise in a bid to stem the outflow of cash and to get the airline on a road which, eventually, will hopefully see it operate profitably and without the threat of bankruptcy hanging over its head.
Norwegian Moves Two More Routes To San Francisco
When Norwegian burst on to the scene with its low-cost transatlantic fares just a few years ago a good number of its US routes operated in and out of secondary airports adjacent to the major cities which travelers want to visit.
While the airline still offers flights to a number of such airports (Stewart airport in New York for example), a recent change of strategy has seen Norwegian move some of its flights to the primary airports in the metropolitan areas it serves.
This May Be Why Norwegian Scares The Legacy Carriers So Much
Norwegian has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons recently as it managed to lose $210m in fuel hedges in 4Q 2018, it had to cancel all of its Caribbean routes in an attempt to cut costs, it had to cut its service between Paris Orly and New York and it had to announce a $353m rights issue to raise much needed funds....but it has not all been bad news.
Surprising: Norwegian Adds Two New Seasonal Transatlantic Routes
Recently we've seen Norwegian cancel all its Caribbean routes, post a 4Q $210m loss in fuel hedges alone, refinance aircraft, sell aircraft and announce a rights issue to raise some much-needed cash...but now the airline has reverted to type and has announced two new routes across the Atlantic.
Norwegian Cancels All Its Caribbean Routes & Cuts Back In Paris Too
Norwegian is in the middle of a major rationalization program as it looks to get its finances in order and to stem the outflow of cash that has caused so much concern over recent months.
The airline posted its full-year results just the other day and in the fourth quarter of 2018 it managed to lose over $200m in poorly executed fuel hedges alone....so things haven't been looking good.
Norwegian Lost $210m In Fuel Hedges In 4Q 2018 Alone
Norwegian is the low-cost carrier whose growth has caught everyone by surprise, but the rapid expansion of its fleet and routes has come at the expense of profitability and, some would say, sound business practices.
While the airline leads the way in keeping the costs of flying across the Atlantic as low as they are right now it has been hemorrhaging cash at a rate that most would agree is unsustainable....and Norwegian is finally taking steps to combat the financial issues it is facing.
Norwegian Raises $353m Of Funding Through A Rights Issue…But Will It Be Enough?
Norwegian is probably my favorite airline that I've yet to fly as its existence is a major thorn in the side of the legacy carriers...especially those carriers that carry passengers across the Atlantic. I like that.
I can't think of a time when air travel was a cheap as it is right now (you can fly across the Atlantic for $99 if you're flexible and can make do without most creature comforts) but the days of cheap flights depend on the survival of low-cost carriers and none is as important to cheap transatlantic fares as Norwegian.
Norwegian Begins To Roll Out Wi-Fi On Long-Haul Flights…And It’s Free!
Norwegian already offers free wi-fi on the majority of its short-haul routes and now the airline has announced that it has commenced the roll out of its wi-fi service on its 787-9 Dreamliners and on its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Bold Move: Norwegian Moves Routes To Serve US Hub Airports
Yesterday Norwegian announced that it will be taking on British Airways head-to-head on the London – Rio de Janeiro route (BA currently has a monopoly on this route) and today the low-cost carrier has announced that it will be refocusing two transatlantic routes in a further attempt to steal market share from the legacy carriers.
Norwegian Adds Another Route To South America (And It’s Bad News For British Airways)
Now this is getting interesting. It's common knowledge that Norwegian is considered a thorn in the side of British Airways thanks to the low-cost carrier's routes across the Atlantic and its propensity for starting up routes from London on which BA previously had a monopoly (Austin, Buenos Aires etc..).
It's also common knowledge that British Airways' parent company, IAG, is very interested in acquiring Norwegian and adding it to its stable of airlines (which already include Aer Lingus, BA, Iberia, Vueling and Level)....but Norwegian appears to be resisting all advances (thankfully!)
Norwegian Has Launched Its “Biggest Ever” USA Sale From The UK & Ireland
As the headline suggests, Norwegian has launched its "biggest ever" sale for flights to the from the UK & Ireland with headline one-way fares starting from £140 (from the UK) and €99 (from Ireland).
Norwegian also says that, for the first time, its Premium Economy cabin is included in the sale with one-way fares starting at £415.
Norwegian Announces New Services To Thailand
Norwegian has been making quite a few changes to its routes recently with new additions seemingly prevailing over cuts. The last major route news from Norwegian was towards the end of June when the airline confirmed that it would be offering a daily service between London and Buenos Aires and adding Tampa to its route network.
Bad News: Norwegian’s New Transatlantic Seats Look Terrible!
On the whole I'm pretty positive about Norwegian but sometimes the airline does things for which it deserves to be called out. This is one of those times.
Norwegian has taken delivery of its first 737 MAX aircraft with a new interior and will take delivery of a further 12 of these aircraft as we progress through 2018. In total the airline has over 100 more 737 MAX aircraft on order (so they'll be hard to avoid) and the existing MAX aircraft will be refitted with the new interior.
Norwegian Adds Tampa To Its US Destinations & Buenos Aires Service Will Go Daily
There may be rumors flying around about Norwegian's long-term viability and the airline may be fending off advances from IAG (British Airways) and Lufthansa Group but that's not stopping the airline from announcing new routes....and the latest is to Tampa, Florida.
Norwegian Now Lets You Search Destinations By Temperature
I’m a big fan of airline searches that offer a lot of filters. As someone who’s always on the lookout for good deals and good places to visit I appreciate the ability to customise my searches to a degree where what I’m presented with is actually relevant to my needs.
Norwegian Is Adding Another 150,000 Seats To Its London – USA Routes
Hot on the heals of the news that Norwegian is doubling the number of flights it offers between Dublin and New York and adding another flight between Rome and Los Angeles, comes the news that London is getting more flights to the US too...a lot more.
Norwegian Adds More Service To Los Angeles & New York
Norwegian is the low-cost airline that won't stop growing (mostly) and the airline has recently announced that it plans to add yet more service between Europe and the US. No new destinations are being announced but two of the airlines existing routes are to see extra services added in 2018.
Norwegian Cancels A US Route & Cuts Back Two More
Norwegian is the low-cost airline that has helped to shake up airfares across the Atlantic and it has been expanding at a rate that I'm not sure I've seen from an airline before....but are we now seeing the first signs of trouble for the carrier that's been taking the game to the legacy airlines?
News: London Gets More Singapore Airlines A380 Service, A New Mandarin Oriental & More...
London seems to have been in the travel news quite a bit lately so I've picked out three items that looked interesting (and that may be of use) and pulled them together into a single blog post.
Norwegian Announces New Routes Between Europe & The US (And Buys More Gatwick Slots...
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.
You Can Now Fly “Low-Cost” From London To Singapore
Norwegian has already helped change the way we look at transatlantic travel by offering a low-cost option between Europe and the US, it has announced it's intention to take on British Airways (again) with non-stop flights between London and Buenos Aires and yesterday it inaugurated the longest low-cost route in the world: London - Singapore.
Worldwide By easyJet Launches – European Low-Cost Carriers To Collaborate On Connections
One of the big differences between low-cost carriers and their full-service counterparts has always been that the full-service airlines are able to offer smooth (in theory!) transfers to other full-service airlines when passengers wish to connect to an onward flight. The traditional low-cost European airlines don't belong to alliances or have any strong affiliations with other airlines so they can't offer the same service....at least up until now.
Norwegian Is Increasing Its Services To The US….AGAIN!
Norwegian is the little low-cost airline that's taking the fight right to the transatlantic legacy carriers....except that the airline isn't really little any more. Norwegian is now a serious force to be reckoned with and its transatlantic ambitions show no signs of going away.
Norwegian Announces “Limited Edition Rewards” For Frequent Fliers…But Are They Any Good?
Norwegian Air Shuttle (to give the airline is full name) already has a loyalty program called "Norwegian Reward" but, for most of us, this isn't a particularly interesting scheme as it doesn't allow for any outsized rewards (you're not going to be flying in a luxury First Class cabin anytime soon thanks to your earnings from Norwegian).
Now, however, the airline is saying that it will be offering some flyers a free roundtrip flight in 2018 and some a free upgrade to the airline's premium cabin.
Norwegian Expands US Network From London & Paris – Fares From $390 Available
In time for the third anniversary of its low-cost routes between Gatwick and the US Norwegian has announced its intention to add four new routes to its transatlantic network. Two of its new US routes will be launched from London Gatwick while the other two routes will operate out of the airline's Paris base. As if that wasn't enough, the airline has also added more frequencies on two of its existing routes between Paris and the US.
Norwegian Will Fly From London To Buenos Aires In 2018
Norwegian appears the to be a low cost carrier that enjoys taking the battle to the legacy airlines....and doing very well out of it. Now the airline has announced that it will be looking to break the British Airways monopoly on the London - Buenos Aires route starting in early 2018.
Norwegian already operate routes to nine different US cities from Gatwick and has recently added flights to Singapore too....but now it's going further still.
Low Cost Carrier Norwegian Is Adding A Lot More Flights Between The US &...
On Friday (2 December) the DoT quietly released a statement confirming that it has awarded Norwegian a permit to fly to/from the US from a base in Ireland despite very vocal opposition from a number of US carriers. This was excellent news for the airline and for travelers hoping to see transatlantic fares stay low and, what's even better, is that the good news hasn't ended there.
Norwegian Now Offers Lounge Access In Oakland
As British Airways continues its path towards low-cost airline status it would appear that the low-cost carrier it's most concerned about is rising to meet it part-way. When you think about the traits of a low-cost carrier you probably think about things like checked-bag fees, buy-on-board food and cramped seating but you almost certainly don't think of lounge access. Norwegian is trying to change that.
UK – USA Fares From £149/$194 One-Way For Summer 2017
Low-Cost carrier Norwegian has loaded its UK-USA fares for summer 2017 and, if you can plan this far in advance and if you're not beholden to school holidays, there can be some pretty good deals to be had for travel across the pond.
Ethiopian To Fly A350 To London, Qatar Airways Postpones A Route & Norwegian Schedules...
A roundup of some of the airline news I've noticed in the past few days including: Ethiopian Airlines planing to serve London with an A350, Qatar Airways postponing a route that's been taking reservations for months and Norwegian scheduling flights to both the US and Asia with its brand new 787-9 Dreamliners.
Get 15% Off No.1 Lounge Access With Norwegian
British Airways is a former top-tier airline that has gradually repositioned its short-haul service to resemble a low-cost carrier more than the full-service carrier that its better known for being. Generally speaking it has been assumed that British Airways is trying to make its short-haul service more competitive with the likes of easyJet and Ryanair but I'm starting to think that the real competition it will face in the future will be from Norwegian.
Singapore Airlines “mySQupgrade”, American Airlines Installing New Security Technology & More
A few news stories doing the rounds right now including Singapore Airlines introducing a new system to allow its passengers to bid on upgrades, American Airlines working with the TSA to improve the wait-times at airport security and Norwegian being optimistic and publishing a tentative Cork to Boston schedule despite recent issues with the DOT.
Norwegian Now Flying Edinburgh – Barcelona
If there's one airline that's been on a serious mission to expand over the past 18 months it's Norwegian. The European low-cost carrier now flys routes from London to the US, will soon be flying from Paris to the US and has plans to fly from Ireland to the US as well. On top of all that, the airline also has a significant network of flights around Europe which it operates with a fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft.....all of which are equipped with free WiFi - not bad for a low-cost carrier.
Norwegian Announces New Las Vegas Service & Prices Look Good
Norwegian's mission to expand out of its London Gatwick base continues with its announcement of a new route to Las Vegas. The low cost carrier has been making a bit of a splash on the low cost scene by flying wifi equipped 787 Dreamliners across the Atlantic from various European cities.
The airline is scheduled to commence Paris - USA routes from July this year but is already flying non-stop flights from London to Los Angeles, New York, Oakland and Ft Lauderdale.
Fly London To The Caribbean For £289 Return
Low-cost carrier Norwegian is continuing its inroads into the UK market with some very enticing fares to the Caribbean next winter. As of last...
Norwegian Now Selling 400,000+ Seats Gatwick – USA
Norwegian, the European low-cost carrier I seem to write about quite a bit, has released what it's calling “a record number of seats for...
Norwegian Announces 3 US Routes From Paris
Low-cost carrier Norwegian has announced that it will be commencing service to 3 US cities from Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport. I've written about the Scandinavian...
Virgin Atlantic Delays Deployment of 787-9 On Dubai Route & Norwegian Updates Gatwick 787-9...
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner News: Virgin Atlantic delays its aircraft deployment on the Heathrow - Dubai route while Norwegian shows its hand with planned 787-9 routes from Gatwick to all over the US.
UK News: British Airways 787-9 Route, Norwegian Routes & easyJet Tickets On Sale Today
A few bits and pieces of UK flyer news that I've noticed over the past couple of days that seem worth a mention - with...
LCC Offering Live TV, Pilot Suffers Retina Damage From Laser, Waitlist Virgin Australia Upgrades...
A round up of some of the more interesting and useful news from the airline world in recent days - including a new upgrade offering for Virgin Australia flyers, live TV on a European low cost carrier, speculation on where Singapore Airlines will fly its new A350s and more.
British Airways Vs Low Cost Carriers & A “Trick” That Could Save You Money
The most common questions I get when people find out that I write this blog are "where do you go to book your tickets?" and "how do you find the cheapest tickets"
The answer to the first question is "there's never one place/site that I use" - there's no silver bullet. The answer to the second question is "by jumping through a lot of hoops" (even then, I don't necessarily book the cheapest tickets).
Low Cost Carriers Continue UK Expansion
Low Cost Carriers like Norwegian and Ryanair a seem to be on an expansion mission right now with a rapid series of announcements detailing new routes and increased frequencies on short-haul flights from UK regional airports. In addition, Norwegian has been outlining some ambitious plans for log-haul expansion out of London Gatwick.
Norwegian (UK) 20% Discount On “Premium Class” Flights – But Is There Any Point?
Norwegian has announced a promotion for UK members of it Norwegian Rewards program - 20% off a Premium Class fare to the US for flights between October and March. But is there any point to this promotion?
More Routes: American Adds New Route To Mexico, Delta Seasonal Flights Now Bookable, New...
A round up of new routes, expanded routes, seasonal routes and route changes that have been announced over the past few days.
American's New Route...
Great AirFares From New York to Europe – Delta And Norwegian
Right now there are some great economy fares available for travel between New York's JFK airport and Europe.
Delta: New York to Paris (JFK - CDG)...
Norwegian: Low Prices To/From Europe And Now Adding Boston To Gatwick
European low-cost carrier Norwegian has been making a lot of headlines over the past year with some great prices for travel between Europe and the US.
In July...