Norwegian’s low-cost service to the U.S. takes off from London Gatwick

This week Norwegian celebrates its first ever flights between London Gatwick and the U.S. On Wednesday afternoon, the first flight between London Gatwick and Los Angeles took off, while Norwegian’s first flight between London and New York took off this evening. Friday afternoon, the airline celebrates its inaugural flight to Fort Lauderdale. All the flights are almost full.

Following its long-haul success with non-stop service between Scandinavia and the U.S and Scandinavia and Asia, Norwegian’s long-haul adventure is now taking off in the UK.

The new routes have been very well received both by Brits and Americans; almost all of the 291 seats on Norwegian’s 787 Dreamliner have been booked on all the inaugural flights between London Gatwick and the three U.S. cities Los Angeles, New York and Fort Lauderdale.

”We are very happy to celebrate the first ever flights between the UK and the US. The travelling public deserves affordable fares and flexible tickets across the Atlantic. The transatlantic market has for too long been dominated by a few large airlines offering unreasonably high fares and restricted ticket flexibility,” said Norwegian’s CEO Bjørn Kjos.

“We are very happy with the response to our service in the UK market with several fully booked flights in the coming months. We believe this proves that an airline offering quality flights at a low fare has been long awaited,” he added.

Stewart Wingate, CEO of London Gatwick, said:

“Norwegian’s decision to establish links to key cities in North America including New York and Los Angeles offers passengers real choice and affordable travel. The launch also demonstrates the game-changing nature of the Dreamliner aircraft, which has less seats than older generation aircraft and therefore less reliance on transfer passengers. A two-runway Gatwick will best meet the needs of our rapidly changing aviation market, which looks very different today than it did even ten years ago. All of the signs point to Gatwick being the obvious choice for expansion.”

Flight schedule

London – Los Angeles twice a week from July 2, 2014
Norwegian operates two weekly flights between London (LGW) and Los Angeles (LAX) – on Wednesdays and Sundays. The introductory fare is £199 one way.

London – New York three times a week from July 3, 2014
Norwegian operates three weekly flights between London (LGW) and New York (JFK) – on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The introductory fare is £149 one way.

London – Fort Lauderdale twice a week from July 4, 2014
Norwegian operates two weekly flights between London (LGW) and Fort Lauderdale (FLL) – on Mondays and Fridays. The introductory fare is £179 one way.

Norwegian’s long-haul operations
In 2013 Norwegian commenced its long-haul operation by becoming the only low-cost carrier to offer flights between Europe and the US. Norwegian will have a fleet of 17 Dreamliners, whereof seven are currently in service and one more will be delivered in 2014. The company is planning to expand its long-haul fleet with even more 787 Dreamliners.

Norwegian offers long-haul flights between the following destinations:

Routes from New York (JFK): Oslo (OSL), Stockholm (ARN), Copenhagen (CPH), Bergen (BGO) and London (LGW)

Routes from Fort Lauderdale (FLL): Oslo (OSL), Stockholm (ARN), Copenhagen (CPH) and London (LGW)

Routes from Los Angeles (LAX): Oslo (OSL), Stockholm (ARN), Copenhagen (CPH) and London (LGW)

Routes from San Francisco (OAK): Oslo (OSL) and Stockholm (ARN)

Routes from Orlando (MCO): Oslo (OSL)

Routes from Bangkok (BKK): Oslo (OSL) and Stockholm (ARN)

Media contact:
Norwegian’s Press Office: +47 815 11 816