Norwegian CEO Sees USD$69 US To Europe Flights
October 6, 2015
Norwegian Air hopes to sell one-way tickets to Europe for USD$69 as early as 2017 by flying from US airports that have low fees, chief executive Bjørn Kjos said.
Europe's third-largest budget airline is considering flights to Edinburgh and Bergen from US airports that have little to no international service today, such as New York's Westchester County Airport and Connecticut's Bradley Airport, just north of Hartford, Kjos said.
Average prices on such routes are likely to be closer to USD$300 round trip, Kjos said, compared with many of Norwegian's fares that run to more than USD$500 today because of higher fees charged by busier airports.
The potential plans are part of Norwegian's broader move to cut prices and take share from traditional flag carriers that dominate trans-Atlantic flying.
While airlines such as Lufthansa offer hundreds of destinations via connections in airport hubs, Norwegian is aiming to make nonstop service to small cities that straddle the Atlantic more common, which keeps costs low.
"I think you will see a lot to that effect within five years' time," Kjos said. "What will happen to (Lufthansa) when everyone starts to fly direct?"
Norwegian has 100 Boeing 737 MAX jets on order and expects to receive five in 2017. These planes are equipped to fly the Atlantic but are smaller than most jets that currently do so, making them a better size for international flights to cities such as Birmingham in Britain, Kjos said.
Regulators will have to agree to set up customs stations at US regional airports to handle international traffic, although Kjos said he is confident this can be arranged.
Norwegian is not the only airline to market cheap fares across the Atlantic.
Iceland's Wow Air recently offered one-way fares between Boston and Paris for USD$99. Lufthansa's low-cost subsidiary Eurowings is also starting cheap long-haul flights.
Kjos downplayed the competitive threat of Eurowings, saying, "I don't believe in their being able to operate low cost with a Boeing 767."