All Things Travel: Norwegian Ramps Up Boston Flights
BOSTON (CBS) – Travel to Europe from Logan Airport next year just got a major new competitor.
Next May, Norwegian will begin flights to London's Gatwick Airport; Oslo, Norway and Copenhagen, Denmark.
Founded in 1993 with headquarters in Oslo, Norwegian Air Shuttle is the third largest low-cost carrier in Europe and offers more nonstop destinations from the US than any other European airline.
Norwegian now offers the cheapest one way fares for sale next year to Europe. One-way fares start at $299 to London, $215 to Oslo and $229 to Copenhagen.
In another major development, Norwegian announced that its Boston flights will be on new Boeing Dreamliner aircraft. The airline currently operates eight 787-8 Dreamliners and will start taking delivery of the larger Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in 2016.
Scandinavia is the one area in Europe that currently does not have air service from Boston.
The new flights being offered by Norwegian to London are expected to put price pressure on the largest international route served from Boston to Europe. British Airways has three daily flights to London and Delta and Virgin Atlantic also operate daily service.
Norwegian is expected to be especially attractive for flights by Boston's large student population.
Earlier, Norwegian announced weekly service starting Dec. 3 with twice weekly winter flights to French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
"Norwegian offers more international destinations than any other foreign carrier operating here," said Massport CEO Thomas Glynn. "We welcome their growth, their array of destinations and that they offer budget-conscious travelers a great way to get to and from Europe."
The arrival of Norwegian puts further pressure on the facilities in Logan's international Terminal E for the TSA and customs facilities as plans are being finalized for 2016.
Bob Weiss reports
on business travel on Mondays at 5:55 a.m. on WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
