Norse Atlantic reversing ‘unbundling’ as it launches £259 sale seats to New York

Air fares, it seems, are finally returning to their pre-pandemic normal and Norse Atlantic is once again offering £259 transatlantic flights.

In 2018 and 2019 it wasn’t uncommon to see such fares offered by Norwegian, and Norse is now following in its footsteps.

The ‘September Sale’ is running until 12th September with travel from 1st October until 15th June 2025.

All flights are from London Gatwick. Here are the headline fares:

• New York JFK from £259 return
• Miami from £275 return 
• Orlando from £275 return 
• Los Angeles from £275 return 
• Las Vegas from £299 return 
• Cape Town from £329 return 

The most exciting new route Norse is flying is to Cape Town. I was easily able to find return flights for £323 here, which is a good deal for the 11-hour journey.

Pricing for premium economy isn’t bad either, with a return to New York in Premium going for £581. Cape Town is £816 – far below the £1,200+ British Airways is demanding. You can read our review of Norse Atlantic Premium Economy to New York here.

Is unbundling over for Norse?

Part of the reason that Norse Atlantic has been able to offer low fares is that you get virtually nothing included with your ticket.

Free checked luggage? Seat selection? Forget it. Norse Atlantic doesn’t even offer you free food on its cheapest economy tickets.

More frustratingly, Norse Atlantic didn’t even include cabin baggage with Economy Light fares. Whilst many people fly short haul every day with literally no baggage, cabin or hold, I doubt many people flying to Cape Town go entirely empty handed.

This is now over. All Norse Atlantic tickets – irrespective of whether they are booked as part of the sale or not – will now also include a 10kg carry-on bag for free. This is in addition to the under-seat personal item previously offered.

It isn’t clear if this is Norse getting generous or if an advertising standards person has had a word. All ‘compulsory’ charges must be shown as part of the advertised price and realistically 99.9% of people would find it ‘compulsory’ to take some item of luggage (apart from a handbag / small laptop bag) on a long haul flight.

PS. Norse also revealed this week that it will allocate half of its fleet to the charter market for Winter 2024 as it struggles to find profitable routes opportunities. The airline is also returning three Boeing 787-8 aircraft to the leasing company, allowing it to cut capacity and move to a pure Boeing 787-9 fleet.

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