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Aiming to boost revenue, Norwegian Air will shift London flights from Fort Lauderdale to Miami and from Oakland to San Francisco on March 31.
With the shift, Norwegian will have a presence at 17 U.S. airports.
In an interview, airline spokesman Anders Lindstrom said Norwegian is shifting to San Francisco and Miami because they are higher-yielding markets for business travel and cargo. In addition, flights from London to Miami and San Francisco show up more broadly on OTAs and metasearch engines, Lindstrom said.
Norwegian currently flies Fort Lauderdale-London Gatwick three times per week and Oakland-Gatwick six times per week. The carrier will continue flying its five other routes between Fort Lauderdale and Europe (Paris, Oslo, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Stockholm) and its six other routes between Oakland and Europe (Paris, Oslo, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Rome).
Earlier this year, the airline started using new Boeing 787-900 Dreamliners on the Fort Lauderdale-Gatwick and Oakland-Gatwick routes. Those aircraft are configured with 56 of Norwegian’s roomier and higher-priced Premium Cabin seats. The older 787-900s had just 35 Premium seats.
Flying the new Dreamliners from Miami and San Francisco will better position Norwegian to capture London’s business travelers, Lindstrom said.
Also on March 31, Norwegian will launch service between Boston and Rome, flying four times per week. Thrice-weekly Boston-Madrid flights launch May 2. According to the website Flight Connections, Norwegian will compete against Alitalia on the Rome route and Iberia on the Madrid route.
“Boston is such an overpriced market for transatlantic flights,” Lindstrom said. “We will come in and pretty much halve the average flight on average.”
Norwegian currently flies to Paris and London from Boston.
Source: travelweekly.com
