Norwegian is revving up its engines to fly to Ireland starting in July
By Ray O’Hanlon
During World War II the Battle of the Atlantic was mostly on the water, and under it.
The new version will be in the air with convoys of aircraft competing for passengers on routes to Ireland and Scotland.
The signal to let battle commence was delivered Thursday a little over an hour north of New York City when Norwegian Air International unveiled what a press release hailed as the “Cheapest Transatlantic Flights Ever.”
This being an “Introductory fare to Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK as low as $65 one-way, including taxes.”
The fare will apply on “10 new nonstop routes” beginning this summer.
Introductory fares of $65 and $99 are not for every available seat of course and one way fares in the mid $200s $300s range are also on sale for flights that will take off beginning July 1.
The announcement of what nevertheless will be a sea change in the Atlantic skies was made at Stewart International Airport in Orange County.
Norwegian stated that tickets for its Boeing 737-MAX transatlantic service were now on sale at an introductory fare of $65 one-way, including taxes.
Stated the carrier’s release: “The airline will launch 10 new routes from Stewart International Airport north of New York City, T.F. Green Airport in Providence, RI, and Bradley International Airport in Hartford, CT, to Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK this summer.
“Norwegian’s new routes from Providence to Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Edinburgh and Shannon are the first-ever year-round European routes for Rhode Island’s largest airport.
“From Stewart, New York’s Hudson Valley airport, Norwegian will be the first carrier to provide European service with four routes to Belfast, Dublin, Edinburgh and Shannon.
“Norwegian will also operate one route from Bradley, New England’s second largest airport, to Edinburgh. In addition to launching service, Norwegian will open a base for its pilots and cabin crew and station two Boeing 737-MAX aircraft at both T.F. Green and Stewart airports. Norwegian already has more U.S.-based cabin crew than any other foreign airline, and these two new bases will create another 150 American jobs.”
The route to Belfast is a timely boost for the city as it recently lost its connection to the U.S. when United Airlines scrapped its service.
“We are pleased to announce our new highly-anticipated transatlantic routes. Our new, non-stop service will enable tens of thousands of new travelers to fly between the continents much more comfortably and affordably,” said Bjørn Kjos, CEO and founder of Norwegian.
“Norwegian’s latest transatlantic offering is not only great news for the traveling public, but also for the local U.S. economies as we will bring more tourists that will increase spending, consequently creating thousands of new local jobs.
“We are excited to finally be able to launch service to Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland and we would like to express a big gratitude for the extensive support from consumer groups, government officials, airports, tourism organizations and the travel and tourism industry on both sides of the Atlantic in our quest to offer affordable transatlantic flights for all.”
The prediction of “new travelers” bore early fruit with thousands of bookings for the new routes being taken by Norwegian within hours of the Stewart Airport unveiling, an event that included a rousing introduction by the pipes and drums of the Port Authority Police.
The new transatlantic routes, added the carrier’s release, will be operated by Norwegian Air International, Norwegian’s Irish subsidiary, and will mostly use U.S.-based crew, as well as crew from a new Edinburgh base in the UK.
“Norwegian is the European launch customer of the Boeing 737-MAX, a state-of-the-art new aircraft, which offers a longer range and greater seat capacity,” said the release.
The four Irish airports included in the new service are Dublin, Shannon, Belfast and Cork.
The arrival of Norwegian into the transatlantic air fray raises competition to new heights on the Atlantic and offers about a stark contrast to former times – the 1980s and early 90s especially - when flying Aer Lingus was just about the only way to reach Ireland from the U.S. - and then only out of New York and Boston.
Now there are several U.S. carriers flying to Ireland from more than a dozen North American airports and, of course, Aer Lingus, which has taken due note of the Norwegian upstart.
“Aer Lingus is a value carrier and competing robustly is part of our DNA. We compete daily on price and service with many other transatlantic carriers and we welcome all new competition into the market,” said a release from the Irish airline.
“We believe our 4 star transatlantic service offers guests great choice and excellent value. We fly high frequency services into primary airports, offer state of the art inflight entertainment, complimentary meals, wi-fi in the sky, free seat assignment, an award winning Business Class service, all with U..S pre-clearance at Dublin and Shannon airports and we are confident of our ability to compete with any carrier in the market.”
In addition to Aer Lingus, and now Norwegian, Delta, United, American Airlines, Air Canada, and Ethiopian Airlines all fly from North America to various Irish airports.
