Norwegian has now flown three million low-cost long-haul passengers between Europe and the US since low-cost transatlantic services began in 2013, the airline announced yesterday.
Norwegian first launched low-cost flights from Scandinavia to the US in May 2013, followed by services from London to the US beginning in July 2014. Today, the airline offers 37 nonstop routes between Europe and the US with a steady load factor of 90% or more – in August this year, Norwegian’s long-haul flights achieved a 96% load factor.
Along with low-cost flights to the US, Norwegian has also obtained a UK Operating License, allowing the airline to access to key bilateral traffic rights to other markets. With the UK license, Norwegian has the long-term ambition of establishing a seamless global operation, using the same aircraft on both US and other long-haul routes to potential new markets such as Asia, Africa and South America.
“Three million passengers in three years shows the huge demand for affordable long-haul travel,” said Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos.“Our low-cost long-haul flights are now the driving force behind Norwegian’s growth but this is only the beginning. We will continue to offer passengers affordable transatlantic flights, with new routes and increased flights from the UK, but in the future we also have ambitious plans to spread our long-haul wings into other global destinations.”