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Norse Atlantic launches another FOUR US routes from Gatwick – now flying to seven cities

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Six months after launching regular flights from Gatwick to New York, low-cost transatlantic airline Norse Atlantic is aggressively stepping up its services from the UK to the US.

Two weeks ago we covered two new routes to Florida – Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

Norse has followed up today with a further four US routes.

Norse Atlantic launches flights from Gatwick to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale

Here are the new destinations from London Gatwick:

  • Washington DC – launches on 1st June with up to six flights per week
  • Los Angeles – launches on 30th June with daily flights
  • San Francisco – launches on 1st July with three flights per week
  • Boston – launches on 2nd September with five flights per week

With seven US routes, Norse now overtakes British Airways to be the largest operator of flights to the United States from London Gatwick.

What is it like flying Norse Atlantic?

You can read our review of flying Premium on Norse Atlantic from Gatwick to New York here.

You can also see how Norse Atlantic’s premium economy compares to British Airways and Virgin Atlantic here.

Norse Atlantic 787 Premium seat

The good news is that Norse flies a fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Boeing’s newest long haul aircraft. This means bigger, electronically dimming windows and a lower cabin altitude, which reduces the effects of jetlag.

In Premium, you can expect a small cabin of 56 seats in a 2-3-2 layout. Norse Atlantic has the largest leg room of any UK carrier, with a seat pitch of 43″ and a deep recline of 12″. Based purely on leg room and seat space, Norse Atlantic in Premium is head and shoulders above British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

The economy experience is tighter, with rows of nine-abreast seating. If you book the cheapest fares, you’ll only get one small underseat bag included in your fare, with additional options available for a fee. Norse also offers two fares – Economy Classic and Economy Plus – which bundle benefits such as seat selection, a meal service and a checked bag.

The bottom line is that Norse Atlantic is a low cost carrier, so you should expect to pay more for any extras you may want or need. Think of it as a longhaul Ryanair flight, albeit with arguably the best Premium cabin across the Atlantic.

Conclusion

The future looks promising for Norse. Whilst it is easy to question why it should succeed where Norwegian failed, using exactly the same aircraft, there are two things which definitely tip the balance towards Norse:

  • the 787 fleet is now well established and reliable – Norwegian, along with many other airlines, had huge issues with fleet reliability due to early problems with the engines which in turn led to huge costs for compensation payments and ad-hoc charter aircraft
  • fares are substantially higher than pre-covid – the new Boston route is advertised as ‘from’ £370 return before seating and baggage charges, whereas we would often see flights under £250 all-in on British Airways before the pandemic, and under £200 on Norwegian

You can book on the Norse Atlantic website here.

Comments (36)

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

  • Stuart says:

    Has BA got the capacity to respond like they previously did against Norwegian?

    • Rob says:

      No – although they could move a Miami to Fort Lauderdale etc (but would cost them, given lower yield).

      • Richie says:

        BA needs to do something about replacing its very old B772s, G-VIIA might be older than @Rhys

        • Nick says:

          When the LGW 777 fleet was refurbished most customers thought they were brand new aircraft. They’re far from end of life.

          • Richie says:

            G-VIIA to L are at least 25 years old, is that middle aged for an aircraft? Some passengers are easily pleased with very good IFE screens.

  • Roberto says:

    It’s never gonna last…..

  • Richie says:

    There isn’t a Boston to Gatwick Norse flight on Sundays, I’m sticking with BA’s Monday daytime flight with direct access from the lounge.

  • Chris W says:

    Does London to Boston really need another airline? This is, what, now seven different airlines offering flights?

    • CamFlyer says:

      And all from BOS to LHR/LGW! Time for someone to fly directly BOS-STN, between the airports closest to two of the world’s top research university clusters (and associated businesses)!

      • Andrew. says:

        It takes hours on the coach from Oxford to STN, and they are quite infrequent. There’s a far better coach every 30 minutes from Oxford to Heathrow and every hour to Gatwick.

        (Not forgetting the direct Summer flights between Boston and Edinburgh)

        • RB says:

          Not sure if this is a Poe comment or not??

        • Richie says:

          When the Oxford to Cambridge rail project is complete, getting to Stansted may be a bit easier.

        • Chas says:

          I suspect that the dark blue place wasn’t considered as “one of the world’s top research university clusters”. CamFlyer was probably referring to somewhere else along with the light blues….! 😉

      • SammyJ says:

        Or BOS-anywhere north of Watford. MAN or BHX would be a decent start!

      • pigeon says:

        The problem with UK university travel is it’s low-yield, economy-only — with an overstaffed administration department that enforces it.

  • Andrew. says:

    Washington? Is that going to be IAD or BWI?

    • CamFlyer says:

      As they said Washington I expect IAD, though I agree that a second transatlantic option from BWI competitively could be a good move.

      • Andrew. says:

        It’s been loaded into the schedules now. Confirmed as IAD.

      • N says:

        With the Metro now finally reaching IAD, I suspect that’s going to be the most popular route by far.

  • Alex G says:

    I hope Norse succeeds. Gatwick is an excellent airport with a large catchment area, that has been abandoned by the legacy carriers.

    Good news that BA doesn’t have the fleet size currently to get up to their usual anti-competitive shenanigans.

    I hope Norse builds up to a size where reliability is no longer an issue.

    Is it too much to hope that, in due course, they expand East, providing the UK with the second hub and second national long haul carrier that it so desperately needs?

    • JDB says:

      LGW has only been largely abandoned by legacy carriers because they can’t make the economics work, particularly as it’s hugely inefficient/costly to operate at LGW and LHR. BA did have a go at creating the “hub without the hubbub” some years ago, but it just didn’t work. Although the LGW catchment area would appear to be good, the premium business and leisure travellers consistently vote with their feet in favour of LHR so it is likely to remain as a low cost hub and it certainly feels like that.

      • Richie says:

        AA, CO, DL, NWA, UAL, USAir all abandoned LGW for LHR because relaxation in bi-lateral agreement allowed them to. BA, EK, TOM, QR, TK, TP all have business class and/or PE. BA is drafting in A321 aircraft with the potential for bigger CE cabins than A32O aircraft. JetBlue is a newish kid on the block with their A321 mint business class. Emirates has 3 A380 flights today with business class and its own lounge in the Nth Terminal.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        I’d happily fly the BA LGW-JFK route but until (a) the flight times are better (needs an earlyer outbound flight) ; (b) they put CWS on it and (c) minimise the cancallations that used to plague it then I’ll make the trip to LHR instead.

        Aren’t DL supposed to be starting L:GW-BOS this year?

    • Chris W says:

      Surely seasonal LGW-DXB flights during winter would be a no brainer when they don’t need so many flights to the North East coast USA.

  • AviosNovice says:

    Gutted there’s MORE Boston and NY flights instead of the, speculated, one I wanted, Chicago Rockford.
    Oh well, will wait for the next announcement I guess.

  • NorthernLass says:

    What happened to levelling up? Any new routes which aren’t currently served from the north should have to depart from a northern airport – IAD, MIA, ORD and a bit more competition for NYC and MCO would be a start! Did the proposed EI service to BOS ever get off the ground (literally)? Everyone should be able to enjoy the MAN world-class security and Escape Lounge experience.

    • Nick says:

      Nice to see Mike Hunt’s real alias being exposed as Anna in disguise 😄

      Looking forward to this exploding in an all-out war on LON-BOS. Far too much capacity in that market this year, it’s popular but not that much.

    • Mikeact says:

      I don’t believe the airlines were involved in levelling up..

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