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Norwegian Is Doubling Its US to Europe Flights Starting Summer 2020

Five-time winner of the World’s Best Low-Cost Long Haul carrier, Norwegian is beefing up its flight schedule between Europe and the United States starting in summer 2020.

Norwegian has managed to stay afloat as competitors WOW Air, Primera Air, and Thomas Cook have fallen. Not only has the airline survived through its financial struggles, but it has also become the biggest airline in terms of European flights from Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and Florida. To continue its growth, the carrier has nearly doubled its operations in the U.S, adding multiple flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and Florida, building a prominent presence in those markets.

Norwegian has added two flights from New York to Paris, bringing its total weekly flights to nine, and increased their San Francisco to London route to five times a week. Additional routes include Tampa, Austin, and Denver to London, San Francisco and Los Angeles to Barcelona, Fort Lauderdale to Oslo, Boston to Paris, and Los Angeles to Rome. The airline’s 787 Dreamliners will operate most of the routes.

Norwegian commented on the flight additions, “Our nonstop routes to Paris, London and Barcelona have been in very high demand by American and European travelers alike, and we continue to bolster capacity to meet the demand. Paris, in particular, now served by seven U.S. gateways, has seen rapid growth in recent years and we see potential for more.”

Although there have been doubts about Norwegian’s longevity, the airline just caught a break as 90% of bondholders have agreed to postpone the airline’s $380 million repayments. This, along with the cost savings from the closing of their Madrid base and the consolidation of New York City flights to operate only out of JFK, Norwegian’s long-term survival looks promising.

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4 Comments
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highupinthesky October 22, 2019

It's easy to double the EU-US flights when you have reduced it with more than 50% over the last 12 months. The additional flights for the summer 2020 schedule is not even close to doubling the EU-US flights, and there is still quite a number of weekly flights missing before they are back at the level they were at 12 months ago. I also has seriously doubt about there financial strength. It's not long since they had to pawn their slots in Gatwick to get a short bond extension. The interests they pay on those bonds are way over what other airlines pays on their loans.

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rylan October 21, 2019

Apparently their debtors are ok with the airline continuing to hemorrhage cash. Sure they delayed the massive bond repayments, but do they have liquidity to maintain continuing operations for another year or more and also maintain the minimum book value per the bond terms. Will be interesting when their Q3 report comes out in a week.

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FlyingNone October 21, 2019

Because that's what Europe needs - more over-crowded tourist spots and every one of their cities becoming an AirBnb business.

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Matt4 October 19, 2019

The 3 alliances joint ventures, by selling ultra low transatlantic fares to compete with Norwegian on the route it’s flying, have already sealed the fate of this airline, which is just the next one on the list after Primera and WOW air. Good luck to the crazy ones who still dare buying a Norwegian ticket.