At the moment Norwegian is undergoing a major restructuring, given the huge losses they've sustained. The airline is transitioning from being focused on growth to being focused on profitability. The airline has some new investors, and plans on downsizing as part of this strategy. The airline has announced some significant service cuts, so that's why…
Continue reading: Norwegian Adds New York To Athens & Chicago To Barcelona Flights
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How is Norwegian able to operate all these flights from the US to different countries? Are they registered in the EU or something which makes them non 5th freedom flights? Thanks
Norwegian is registered in Norway, as well as several EU countries, and the EU sky counts as one country for purposes of flying
@Michael @Andrew - Norwegian does have companies registered in the EU, however, in normal circumstances that only allows them to fly between any two points in the EU. For non-EU flights they would have to originate in the registered country. That being said, the US and EU signed an Open Skies Agreement which states any EU airline can fly between any point in the EU and any point in the US. That's why Norwegian can fly those routes.
Let's see if American decides to fight it out on Chicago-Barcelona, or if they roll over and run away from the route like they've run away from almost every other transatlantic route in Chicago.
@Another Andrew Thanks! So Air France could fly JFK to FCO if they wanted to in theory? and not need 5th freedom permissions? Are there some sort of gentleman agreements between these full service EU carriers that you don't see this happen really?
These are not fifth freedom flights. Any carrier registered in the European aviation area (not to be confused with the EU as it includes several more countries) is free to operate between the US and any of these countries.
@Michael: I suspect it's just not that appealing, as flag carriers capture most of the legacy-level market. You do see it happen though, e.g. British Airways flies NYC-Paris.
The instant turn time in NYC seems a bit odd. I wonder if they're trading off with another aircraft that arrived earlier.
Michael, they sort of do that by having all these old national carriers owned by one company.
IE, International Airlines Group owns Air Lingus, British, and Iberia. For branding reasons, it makes sense for Iberia to fly the Spain routes and BA to fly the UK routes, but they dont have to.
The closest in the US is Delta and Aeromexico. If there is a US-Mexico flight and more customers are expected to be Americans, Delta does it. If more customers are expected to be Mexican, Aeromexico does the route. But its all coordinated
I'm not particularly surprised they're launching new routes. Is it really better to just leave the planes empty on the ground?
@Christian With all the operations Norwegian has in and out of JFK to other European destinations, they would easily be able to operate something that seems like an "instant" turn time with an aircraft that has arrived from the other cities.
Hi, I plan on getting two airfares from Chicago to Barcelona and return to Chicago. Departing on Friday or Saturday, August 30 or 31, 2019 and returning home on Monday, Sep16, 2019. Would like the premium , Thanks and when can I make book flights? Wanda Clark
Hi, I plan on getting two airfares from Chicago to Barcelóna and return to Chicago. Departing on For or Saturday, August 30 or 31, and returning home on Monday, September 16, 2019. When can I purchase tickets?