Atlantic traffic shock

With a third daily London – New York JFK service starting from 28 October, Norwegian last week hailed new figures showing it had overtaken British Airways as the biggest non-US airline on transatlantic routes to and from the New York area.

Data from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey showed the no-frills operator carried 1.67m passengers to or from New York JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty in the 12 months to the end of July, compared with 1.63m carried by BA. (See also this week’s COMMENT)

Norwegian CEO and founder Bjørn Kjos said the figures further endorsed the strong demand for lower transatlantic fares, which had been “too high for too long”. BA countered by saying its commitment to New York was “as strong as ever”.

BA noted it flew up to 70 times a week from all three of its London airports, and had announced a £49.7m investment in new lounges and other improvements at JFK Terminal 7.

Norwegian operates 16 routes from three airports in the New York City area – John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International and Stewart International Airport to: Amsterdam; Barcelona; Belfast; Bergen; Copenhagen; Dublin; Edinburgh; Guadeloupe; London; Madrid; Martinique; Oslo; Paris; Rome; Shannon; and Stockholm.

(See also Norwegian opens up in Argentina in this issue).

www.panynj.gov

www.norwegian.com

www.britishairways.com

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