US destination dropped by Norwegian

Bradley International Airport, Hartford Connecticut, midway between New York and Boston is to lose its twice weekly Edinburgh, Scotland, air service launched last June. 

Norwegian Air has announced it will terminate the route with the last flight scheduled to be operated on 24 March, blaming the Scottish government’s postponement of a reduction in Air Passenger Duty. 

The budget carrier is also reducing the number of services on its route from Edinburgh to Providence, Rhode Island, from four a week to three.  In a statement, the airline said: “As of March 25, 2018, Norwegian Air will no longer operate its Edinburgh service out of Hartford’s Bradley International Airport. The decision to pull the route, along with decreasing services to Edinburgh from other US airports, is due to the Scottish Government’s postponement of a reduction to air passenger taxes.” 

Last summer MSPs voted in Holyrood to replace APD with a new devolved Air Departure Tax, which was due to be introduced in April this year.  Although the rates for the new tax had not been set, it was widely expected that they would be lower than the existing rates for APD, which for Economy Class journeys are set at £13 for short-haul flights, and £75 for long-haul flights (over 2,000mi).  Legal niceties stopped the plan.

www.norwegian.com

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