Category Archives: Norwegian Air UK

Norwegian rejects two takeover bids from IAG

Norwegian Air Shuttle has made this announcement:

The Board of Norwegian Air Shuttle (NAS) confirms that it has received two separate conditional proposals from IAG Group in relation to an acquisition of 100 percent of the share capital of NAS.

These proposals were reviewed in conjunction with NAS’ financial and legal advisers, and were unanimously rejected on the basis that they undervalued NAS and its prospects. The Board of NAS remains fully committed to delivering on its stated strategy, for the benefit of all NAS shareholders.

Norwegian in the UK and Ireland:

Norwegian carries 5.8 million UK passengers each year from London Gatwick, Edinburgh and Manchester Airports to 50 destinations worldwide
Norwegian is the third largest airline at London Gatwick, with 4.6 million yearly passengers, and with more than 1,000 UK-based pilots and cabin crew
In 2014, Norwegian introduced the UK’s first low-cost, long haul flights to the U.S. – the airline now flies to 11 U.S destinations, Buenos Aires and Singapore
In 2017, Norwegian also launched affordable transatlantic flights from Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Cork and Shannon to the US East Coast, using the brand new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft
Norwegian is the only airline to offer free inflight WiFi on UK flights to more than 30 European destinations
The airline has one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the world with an average age of 3.6 years, including next-generation Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Boeing 737 MAX and Boeing 737-800s
Norwegian has been voted ‘Europe’s best low-cost carrier’ by passengers for five consecutive years at SkyTrax World Airline Awards from 2013-2017, along with being awarded the ‘World’s best low-cost long-haul airline’ in 2015, 2016 and 2017
Norwegian Reward is the airline’s free to join award-winning loyalty program offering members CashPoints and Rewards that reduce the cost of Norwegian flights

Copyright Photo: Norwegian.com (Norwegian Air UK) Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner G-CKWC (msn 38893) (Robert Burns, Scottish Poet) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 941252.

Norwegian UK aircraft slide show:

Norwegian to add a third daily flight between London Gatwick and New York JFK

Norwegian has announced that from October 29, 2018 the airline will add an additional frequency between London Gatwick and New York JFK.

Norwegian is now the second largest long-haul airline at Gatwick with 13 direct long-haul destinations. The airline serves a total of 11 routes to the US and recently added Chicago and Austin to its’ expanding network.

The new flights provide extra flexibility and convenient schedules allowing passengers to choose a departure and arrival time that suits their requirements. Flight DI7017 departs from London Gatwick at 09.50 and lands at New York JFK at 13.00. Flight DI7018 departs New York JFK at 19.40 and lands at London Gatwick at 07.10 the following day.

Copyright Photo: Norwegian.com (Norwegian Air UK) Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner G-CKWD (msn 38789) (Ernest Shackleton, British Polar Explorer) PAE (Nick Dean). Image: 941721.

Norwegian UK aircraft slide show:

easyJet extends ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ to seven airports and adds new connections airline partners

easyJet has announced that it is extending its ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ connections platform to Berlin Tegel, Venice Marco Polo, Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris Charles De Gaulle and Orly and Edinburgh airports. This means that, combined with the connections already announced through London Gatwick and Milan Malpensa, over half of the airline’s flights – and 53 million easyJet customers a year – will be able to connect to airline partner services and other easyJet flights in a single booking through easyJet’s digital booking portal.

easyJet has also brought new connecting airlines onto the ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ booking platform and has also announced partnerships with Thomas Cook Airlines at Gatwick meaning easyJet customers can now travel as far as the Caribbean or to the USA, Africa and the Indian Ocean with La Compagnie and Corsair who will both fly from Paris Orly.

easyJet’s existing relationship with WestJet and Norwegian will enable the airlines to offer long haul connectivity at more of Europe’s biggest hub airports – Norwegian will extend connecting services from Paris Charles De Gaulle and Paris Orly in the coming weeks, from Amsterdam Schiphol in the summer when the airline launches its service to New York from the Dutch capital and also from Edinburgh. Meanwhile easyJet’s existing relationship with Loganair will allow easyJet customers to connect to the highlands and Islands via Edinburgh.

Worldwide by easyJet

Airport Go live date Partners

Gatwick September 2017 Norwegian, Thomas Cook Airlines,

WestJet, Aurigny

Venice Mid-April 2018 To be announced

Paris CDG Spring 2018 Norwegian

Paris Orly Spring 2018 Corsair, La Compagnie, Norwegian

Milan Malpensa Spring 2018 Neos, Norwegian

Berlin Tegel Summer 2018 To be announced

Amsterdam Schiphol Summer 2018 Norwegian

Edinburgh tbc 2018 Loganair, Norwegian

Inverness tbc 2018 Loganair

Worldwide by easyJet explained

‘Worldwide by easyJet’ is the first global airline connections service by a European low fares airline. Legacy airlines have traditionally offered connectivity through costly and complex interline and codeshare agreements and procedures. With Worldwide by easyJet these will be replicated by self-connect and sales partnerships through a digital, virtual hub which will offer the same sort of connectivity but more simply and efficiently.

easyJet has leadership positions at more of Europe’s major airports and flies on more of Europe’s 100 largest routes than any other airline which makes it the most attractive European short haul airline partner. The introduction of this disruptive product opens up new 70m market segment for easyJet.

All of this connectivity has been enabled by technology partner Dohop whose innovative platform allows easyJet customers to book connections and forward flights on easyJet.com. Worldwide by easyJet will also allow easyJet passengers to connect with other easyJet flights through partner airports.

Worldwide by easyJet does not impact easyJet’s punctuality, its asset utilisation or operating model. The airline will not hold flights for connecting passengers. Worldwide by easyJet is subject to a 2 hour 30 minute ‘Minimum Connection Time’, which will give customers plenty of time to transfer between flights and/or terminals. Should a passenger miss a connecting flight they will be transferred to the next available flight.

Top Photo: easyJet.

easyJet (UK) aircraft slide show:

Bottom Copyright Photo: easyJet (UK) Airbus A319-111 G-EZDA (msn 3413) LGW (Antony J. Best). Image: 926668.

Norwegian Air Argentina receives its AOC

Norwegian Air Argentina S.A. (Buenos Aires) is a new airline based in Argentina. It is owned by the Norwegian Air Group.

The new airline received its Air Operators Certificate (AOC) on January 26, 2018 after being established on January 25, 2017.

The airline plans to operate six Boeing 737-800s with operations from Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Mendoza.

Norwegian transferred Boeing 737-800 EI-FVO to Argentinas as LV-HQH for the certification process.

The new airline is expected to launch operations in the second quarter of 2018.

Norwegian Air Shuttle issued this statement:

The low-fare airline Norwegian Air Argentina (NAA) received on January 26, 2018 the Air Services Operator Certificate (AOC) from the National Government. The document recognizes the company as a commercial airline, and certifies that it complies with safety and quality standards to carry out aeronautical operations and activities, in accordance with the law of the Argentine Republic.

Bjørn Kjos, CEO of Norwegian, said: “We are honored to receive the authorization by the Argentine Government and we thank the Minister of Transportation Guillermo Dietrich and his team for the trust in Norwegian. This is great news that shows that we are getting closer to the start of our operations in Argentina with our safe, efficient and friendly service”.

Ole Christian Melhus, CEO of Norwegian Air Argentina, said: “We received the AOC with great enthusiasm and honor and it is a major milestone for our journey in Argentina. We also thank the director of the National Administration of Civil Aviation, Tomás Insausti and all his team for their professionalism and dedication. Now we will focus on starting to offer safe flights and affordable fares to millions of passengers soon, as well as job creation and contributing to the stimulation of the local economy”.

Norwegian Air Argentina is an Argentine airline and was set up in March 2017. On December 11, 2017, the Argentine Government granted Norwegian Air Argentina 152 routes; among them, 72 domestic destinations and 80 international. The company received its first aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 on January 15 with local Hero Astor Piazzolla as the Tail Fin Hero.

Norwegian Air UK currently operates a route linking London (Gatwick) with Buenos Aires.

In other news, Norwegian announced that Scottish poet Robert Burns will become the first Scottish ‘tail fin hero’, as people across the globe celebrate Burns Night!

Burns Night is annual event to celebrate the life and work of Robert Burns on the anniversary of his birthday – January 25. The first Burns supper was held in July 1801 when Burns’ close friends got together to mark the fifth anniversary of his death. The night included performances of Burn’s work and was such a resounding success they decided to hold it again, beginning the tradition of Burns Night!

The renowned poet’s portrait will grace the tail fin of a Norwegian Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft (below) which will take to the skies later this Spring.

All photos by Norwegian.

Norwegian sets new record transatlantic flight time from New York to London by a subsonic aircraft

Norwegian (Norwegian Air UK) has set a new record time for the fastest ever transatlantic flight by a subsonic passenger aircraft this week using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.

Norwegian flight DY7014 from New York JFK to London Gatwick on Monday, January 15, 2018 completed the full duration of the flight in 5 hours and 13 minutes – the fastest transatlantic flight recorded on a subsonic commercial aircraft. The previous record was 5 hours and 16 minutes.

The flight carrying 284 passengers departed New York at 11:44 am and arrived at London at 9:57 pm – 53 minutes early.

Europe’s third largest low-cost airline, operates double daily flights between London and New York using the state-of-the-art Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The flight benefitted from strong tailwinds over the Atlantic Ocean that reached a maximum of 176 knots (202mph). The tailwinds pushed the aircraft to a top speed of 776mph during the flight.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft (G-CKHL, above) used on the record-breaking transatlantic flight adorns British tail fin hero Amy Johnson, a pioneering pilot who was the first female to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930. Norwegian honours iconic figures on the tails of its aircraft, using personalities who symbolise the spirit of Norwegian through innovation, challenging the norm, and inspiring others.

Captain Harold van Dam at Norwegian said: “The 787 Dreamliner is a pleasure to fly and it’s a great feeling to know that we have set a new record in this aircraft. We were actually in the air for just over five hours and if it had not been for forecasted turbulence at lower altitude, we could have flown even faster.”

The day before the record-breaking flight, London Gatwick-based Captain Pascal Niewold recorded his fastest ever transatlantic flight of 5 hours and 20 minutes while flying the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from New York to London on Sunday, January 14, 2018. The flight had a maximum tailwind of 195 knots (224mph) and reached a top speed of 779mph.

Captain Pascal Niewold at Norwegian said: “The passengers and crew were very pleasantly surprised that we were already landing in London. It was a very smooth flight with almost no turbulence and as a result of the jet stream we arrived 25 minutes early.”

In 2018, Norwegian will take delivery of 11 brand new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft, 10 of which will feature Norwegian’s new expanded Premium cabin with 56 seats – 21 seats more than the airline’s current Premium cabin.

Copyright Photo: Norwegian.com (Norwegian Air UK) Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner G-CKHL (msn 63310) (Amy Johnson, British Aviator) LAX (Michael B. Ing). Image: 940391.

Norwegian aircraft slide show: