Norwegian has massively expanded their long haul route network over the past few years, especially adding plenty of flights between Europe and North America. Norwegian also has some long haul flights to other destinations, and one of these is from London (Gatwick) to Singapore. This is an interesting route because it is between two cities…
Continue reading: Norwegian Cancels Singapore Flights, Announces Domestic Argentina Operations
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
This is one of those things where its tough on the customers. Jan 2019 is less than 4 months out and customers may have already committed to hotels and time off around those trips but now are out of luck and will have to find other flights.
I've never flown them so I don't have any personal stake in this but it is another headache for some people.
Well, since SQ sometimes offer good promo for LHR - SIN roundtrip for SGD 800, almost the same as Norwegian with full benefit, no wonder this route is cancelled.
Azul is a better airline than Norwegian. GOL not bad and competition is heating up between TAM and Avianca. I think they’d be well advised to stay out of Brazil.
Hi James! Great article. The domestic flights in Argentina will be originating in AEP airport instead of EZE, just a minor fix to your gcm image.
We are happy to see Norwegian start operations here in Argentina. Round-trip domestic prices start at $25 which is awesome for passengers!
Keep up the good work here at OMAAT!
@ Ariel - thanks for the kind words! I did wonder which BA airport Norwegian would use, given it is a low cost. The details on the new routes on AirlineRoute were a little vague on that!
I've update the post to reflect this. Norwegian are still showing LGW-EZE flights next year - surely they will move this flight to AEP to allow customers to connect?
To be honest I doubt they have very many bookings at all past the Xmas travel period and from the London end you can pick up BA for around the same price in their current sale
But under EU regs they do need to offer a reroute - they don't have anything suitable and arguably "comparable" conditions should be a direct flight so will be interesting to hear what they offer
Ariel - thanks. “Which airport?” was going to be my question. That makes for truly horrible “connections” from LHR flights into EZE.
There are reports elsewhere that Norwegian will start a LHR-GIG flight next year.
Shifting their LHR-EZE flight to AEP would be brilliant - but I think unlikely. AEP is reserved for domestic and single-aisle international flights to/from Uruguay and some Brazil destinations.
But anything to avoid the hell-hole of EZE when arriving in BsAs...
Is the runway at AEP long enough to accommodate a 787 operating direct to/from LGW? This might be another consideration.
Aeroparque's Runway is 2100m long, too short for a 787 flying nonstop to LHR I guess, so they must use different airports. Besides, AEP is restricted to domestic and local international flights.
Interesting. I imagine customers would have a good argument for forcing Norwegian to buy a ticket on another carrier. They are required to offer "alternative transportation to your final destination at the earliest opportunity." If Norwegian has no alternate flight, the regulation seems clear. Obviously, if the prices are similar, it'd be easier to take the refund and book flights yourself.
Re Singapore: we were booked Premium one way to SIN in late January, not trusting Norwegian to come up with anything similar as the price would be far higher, we asked for the refund on Friday and rebooked with Malaysian via KL in Economy with extra legroom seats for a lot less. Not quite the same product but flight times are similar outward. Allowing for the change of plane, the later arrival will suit slightly better for getting into our hotel room.
Falling out of love with Norwegian at the moment, as we've already had flights to FLL changed firstly by several hours, and now to a Wamos airplane!
As someone above noted, Norwegian will still need to use EZE for the long-haul flight, with pax connecting by ground if AEP is used for the domestic flights.
Also, the runway at AEP is 6,900 feet and 787s need more runway than that.
James - I don't mean to sound harsh as you get a lot of undue criticism, but if you were confused about which airport they're using you could have just gone on the Norwegian website, which would tell you within a few seconds!
Hi James! Unfortunately AEP cannot accomodate a longhaul flight- It’s only a regional airport as others noted above. So the LGW-EZE flight won’t change.
From what I’ve heard they have a pretty aggressive expansion plan which involves flying domestically from both AEP and EZE in the future. As for now, it seems that they’ll start out of AEP since that’s what loaded in their website.
Hope this helps!
Though saying that, I don't buy into any of your analysis.
Level is a brand new airline based in Barcelona. The fact they don't fly London to Singapore doesn't mean anything. Likewise, Scoot has only just started flying to Europe and AirAsiaX closed down loads of long haul routes at the time - long haul LCCs weren't doing well back then and AirAsia was planning to restart London flights not too long ago but had issues with the new aircraft they were going to use.
Finally, Argentina is nothing like Brazil whatsoever. Brazil has two large and well established LCCs, Argentina has one other brand new LCC. Norwegian has a decent chance to make it when in Argentina, it has no chance in Brazil.
I am pretty sure AEP can't handle a 787. I believe it's more likely they'll move local flights to EZE, given that AEP is mainly used by businesspeople, akin to LCY in London.
I believe it’s not a matter of premium or not premium, but rather recognition. SIN-SYD and SIN-MEL are premium routes as well yet Scoot and AirAsia are doing really well on those routes. Norwegian doesn’t have enough presence and recognition as a reputable budget option to convince south East Asians that they are the way to go. Scoot and especially AirAsia have such a good reputation there for there and with a lower cost base flying from Asian bases, any attempts by a Western carrier would be futile. After all with price being equal, who wouldn’t prefer to fly the world’s best low cost carrier.
Still waiting for the options from Norwegian airline tickets . Not yet offered new tickets on the bkk-lgw.flights only offered refund . Now with this flight sin-lgw gone ! . No cheap flights Asia to England ? ?
AEP can’t handle a 787. It has some regional routes, but they are being moved to EZE because of capacity limits in AEP (50% already moved, the rest in early 2019).
What’s rumored is that Norwegian may move domestic operations to EPA, but with all the drama surrounding that old/new airport, it’s unclear right now.
Agree with Sam and Andy. They're not being reasonable or upfront by trying to avoid booking on alternate carriers. A customer has a booking for that route and they need to honour that.
Iguazu is not plotted in the correct location on your map, despite the fact that you used the correct airport code.
In addition to the runway issue at AEP, immigration and customs at the airport may be ill-suited to process the amount of passengers on a 787 in one go. As pointed out by others, current operations are by single-aisle planes only. Moreover, a large percentage of international flyers are either Argentineans or neighbors who can use their IDs as travel documents, which presumably helps streamline operations.
Norwegian won't be able to change its London - Buenos aires flight to AEP as it's becoming a domestic airport (only exception to Uruguay flights)
SIN-LGW. Norwegian canceled , was rebooked. On Qantas airlines SIN-LHR. Free food and bags ? . Winner ? Thanks everyone !
We were hoping to use Norwegian Air for internal flights in Argentina in Nov 2019. As they are yet to fly as far south as El Calafate we have had to book some internal flights with Aerolineas Argentinas. So BA to El Calafate, and onwards to Bariloche we've booked AA, same from Bariloche to Mendoza, not least because AA fly Bariloche to Mendoza via Córdoba, which is a bit quicker than via BA as Norwegian do. Hanging fire for last internal flight from Mendoza back to BA to book Norwegian if we can, as going on last year's prices they will be a little cheaper. Frustratingly they have not released their flights beyond 26/10/19. All we can do is hope that the wait pays off!! No information on the website as to when the next flights will be released.