Norwegian set to expand operations at Edinburgh Airport in 2017

Norway’s leading low-cost carrier Norwegian is planning to expand its transatlantic services from Edinburgh Airport in 2017, and is expected to make an announcement regarding this soon. The airline has already initiated the process by recruiting crew members and pilots even as it eyes continued growth from here.

The airline’s ambitious plans include launching new routes to the U.S. East Coast from Edinburgh, which are yet to be named. The airline said that it will be taking delivery of its first Boeing 737 Max aircraft sometime this year. Norwegian, which will be the launch customer of the next-gen Boeing 737 Max aircraft, has also placed orders for over 100 of the Boeing 737 Max 8 variant.

Thomas Ramdahl, Chief Commercial Officer of Norwegian, said, “The company considers Edinburgh to be key to its growth plans in the UK, and has started aggressively working on this. The airline has before it tremendous opportunity and potential for supporting hospitality, business and tourism in the second-most visited city in the United Kingdom.”

Norwegian is currently serving several routes from Edinburgh, which includes Malaga, Tenerife, Barcelona, Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen. The airline had during the past one year until December 2016 transported over a quarter of a million passengers from Edinburgh.

Meanwhile, in yet another development Norwegian has announced it will be increasing the frequencies between the United States and London Gatwick by 55 percent next summer. The airline’s move is therefore set to witness offering of a total of 34 flights per week to the U.S. from London Gatwick. The airline has so far been operating a total of 22 flights per week from London Gatwick to U.S.

Providing details about the new U.S. flights, a spokesperson of Norwegian said that the airline will be launching a second daily flight to New York JFK starting from August 10. The Los Angeles service is set to become daily from the existing five-times weekly effective from April 15. The San Francisco service, which was so far being operated thrice weekly, will now be operated five times per week from April 18. The airline will also be launching an additional flight to Orlando starting April 20. The route will now be served thrice weekly instead of existing twice weekly. The service to Fort Lauderdale is also being increased with an additional weekly flight effective from April 17. The route will be operated twice weekly instead of once weekly.