Article from BTNews 9 DECEMBER 2019
Norwegian granted Heathrow slots
In a surprise decision, Norwegian Air last week was granted take-off and landing slots at Heathrow, giving it a foothold to launch low-fare long-haul services in competition with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, among others.
The carrier said it had secured six slots, adding: “We have a strong track record of disrupting incumbent carriers and alliances by offering low fares and award-winning service on specific routes and destinations previously operated as monopolies”.
The award was confirmed by the slots authority Airport Coordination Ltd in its report for next summer. Norwegian’s six slots – out of 14 it applied for – are valid from 29 March – 24 October 2020.
Most of Norwegian’s ex-UK growth has been concentrated at Gatwick, from where it flies to 30 destinations, 11 in North America and two in South America, through its Norwegian UK subsidiary, carrying more than 4.5m passengers a year.
The number of slots granted is tiny in operational terms and the airline, which is in the middle of a route reorganisation to repair its financial position, has not said how it might use them.
Norwegian has already said it is dropping its long-distance flights from Stockholm and Copenhagen to the US and Thailand after this winter season, with the last services taking off on 29 March 2020.
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