Skift Take
These cheap fares are undoubtedly introductory ones, and heading to Bergen, Norway, however beautiful, isn't the most convenient for leisure travelers intent on making their way through Europe. Still, this is a bargain and could be disruptive if Norwegian can make some money on the route in a sustainable way. That, of course, is an open question.
Norwegian Air Shuttle says it began selling $178 one-way tickets for a weekly Bergen, Norway flight to JFK, with service beginning on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner beginning May 9, 2014.
The second largest airline in Scandinavia, Norwegian hope to revolutionize transatlantic travel with cheap fares, and it believes the problem-plagued Dreamliner is the fuel-efficient enough to do it.
The one weekly flight departs JFK on Fridays at 9:30 p.m. local time and arrives in BGO the following day at 10:35 a.m.
Fares for a May 9 to 16 JFK-BGO roundtrip, however, were selling on the Norwegian website today for about $826, including taxes and fees.
The direct JFK-BGO leg was being offered for around $333, and a BGO-Oslo Gardermoen-JFK return cost about $492 — not the announced introductory fares.
“New York-Bergen has been a long-awaited route and I’m very happy to announce that for the first time in decades, the U.S. and Bergen will get its first direct connection,” said Norwegian CEO said CEO Bjørn Kjos. “Norwegian’s routes between Scandinavia and New York have been very well received, and I am looking forward to welcoming even more Americans on board our brand new Dreamliners on our non-stop service to Bergen.”
The flights would run from May 9 through September 27.
Separately, Norwegian, which operates two Dreamliners, announced today that it will purchase two additional planes, 787-9 Dreamliners.
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Tags: airfares, dreamliner, norwegian
Photo credit: CEO of Norwegian Air Shuttle, Bjoern Kjos, poses at a news conference where he spoke about the low-cost airline's plans to buy 222 new aircraft in Oslo 25 January 2012. REUTERS/Heiko Heiko Junge / Reuters/Scanpix Norway