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Fly to Oslo on a Boeing 787 with Norse Atlantic from £65 return – or £149 in Premium

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On Saturday we looked at the launch of Norse Atlantic Airways in the UK. Tickets are now on sale for flights from London Gatwick to New York JFK from 12th August.

What I didn’t spot at the time is that Norse isn’t, at least initially, opening a base at London Gatwick.

The aircraft will route Oslo – Gatwick – New York – Gatwick – Oslo. And, yes, you can buy Gatwick to Oslo on its own, flying a Boeing 787.

Norse Atlantic London to Oslo

Here is some typical pricing for August:

  • One-way Economy Gatwick to Oslo: £40
  • Return Economy Gatwick to Oslo: £65
  • One-way Premium Economy Gatwick to Oslo: £88
  • Return Premium Economy Gatwick to Oslo: £149

The Economy fares quoted above do not include checked luggage. You are allowed a small underseat bag – possibly enough for a night – but you’ll pay roughly £16 extra each way for Economy Classic which allows a full-size carry-on bag and a hold bag.

The website also says that you’ll get a free meal in Economy with Economy Classic but this could be a mistake – the website seems to be copying the wording from the long-haul ticket rules.

Don’t worry about not getting free seat selection. This is a Boeing 787 and I doubt that Economy will be more than a quarter full.

Premium Economy, above, is the sweet spot. The £88 one-way / £149 return fare quoted above gets you a full-size carry-on bag, priority boarding, priority check-in and (don’t bet on this) ‘two meal services’. Again, it’s another £16 each way to buy a ticket with a checked case included.

(When you try to pay, you are told “Pre-order meals are unavailable on this flight. Food and drinks can be purchased onboard” which implies that the promise of ‘two meal services’ is definitely an error.)

One way or return?

One thing to note is the flight times.

The flight TO Oslo is OK for a short break. You leave Gatwick at 11am and land at 2.20pm.

The return flight to London, however, departs at 9.35am. It lands in Gatwick at 10.50am. I’d be tempted to take the late afternoon British Airways flight instead and have another eight hours to sightsee, even if it does mean British Airways legroom …..

Other things to consider

Remember that the new National Museum has just opened in Oslo, if you’re looking for an excuse to go this Summer.

One downside is the almost total absence of IHG, Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt hotels from the city. Radisson has a huge number of hotels, however. If prices look high there is always the good value option of transferring American Express Membership Rewards points to Radisson Rewards at 1:3.

American Express Platinum cardholders will also have Radisson Rewards Gold status – the benefits of Radisson Gold are here. You don’t get free breakfast unfortunately.

I haven’t been to Oslo for over 20 years, so this deal has spiked my interest. You may see me on one of these services in late August ….

Comments (40)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • @mkcol says:

    Are pax routing OSL-LGW-JFK too?

    • Rob says:

      Yes, you can book it, but I doubt there will be much demand when each day there is also a direct Oslo to JFK.

      Due to lack of APD etc it is cheaper to go OSL-LGW-JFK than just book LGW-JFK.

      In fact, bizarrely, the cost of OSL-LGW is not far off the cost of OSL-LGW-JFK!

  • LostAntipod says:

    You’re not joking about BA legroom.
    I used some spare points to upgrade to Club Europe on a flight from Rome in March. There’s more legroom in the emergency rows in economy. Utterly ridiculous.

    • Rob says:

      Correct. I’ve got a Gold card though so I can have Row 1 which is slighly more palatable.

      • James says:

        But is less enjoyable for those of us with wide ‘hips’ given the loss of width 🙁

  • CC says:

    Been thinking about a trip to Oslo / Tromso for Northern Lights next year, this will be a nice option in premium economy, especially as it seems there are no longer direct flights to Tromso.

    • Tom says:

      You can also try Finnair to Helsinki on an A350, connecting to a small Wideroe prop plane up to Tromso. To add to the adventure. Just be careful of tight turnaround times at HEL.

      • CC says:

        Will do, thanks

      • CC says:

        Just looking on BA for March, I see out of the 4 flights 2 are on A320, and the other 2 does not show what the aircraft is so I take it those are 2 x A350? Checking a few dates and these 2 flights have no availability so must be a clue.

    • Andy in Cheshire says:

      When you get there, book one of the guided minibus aurora chasing minibuses. We spent from 20:00 to 01:00 under an aurora sky with their help. Well worth the £150

  • Paul says:

    Do they go down the Oslofjord in their aquatic 787’s?

  • flyforfun says:

    Oslo is Oh-so expensive! Well, I’d just done 7 nights on the Hurtigruten from Bergen to Kirkness where everything was paid for. Flying into Oslo and then paying for everything again suddenly felt very expensive! If they’ve been hit with inflation like the UK I dread to think of the prices of things!

  • James says:

    If only BA had that kind of leg room in Club Europe.

  • manilabay says:

    The Amerikalinjen near Oslo Central Station is excellent with a great gym & sauna – part of the Nordic Choice group. I would highly recommend.

  • Nick says:

    I can recommend the Radisson in the tower over the station, particularly for the great breakfast (although not the bar at the top, which is terrible). May be tempted to try one of these too.

    Would love to see someone complain under the Consumer Rights Act for not delivering on the free meal!

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