London to New York from £250 - could this new airline be your new link to the US?
Image source: Norse Atlantic Airways
Many new airlines have been launched or existing airlines expanded in recent months as pent-up travel demand is unleashed globally. Whether that is Flyr launching low cost flights in Norway, Bonza in Australia, Flair and Swoop in Canada - and many others. These are all tried and tested models - low cost, short-haul journeys but there is one airline that is attempting to do something that has failed miserably several times before - low cost, long-haul.
Norse Atlantic Airways is here
Norse is a Norwegian-based airline that is focussing on low cost, long-haul service primarily between Europe and the United States. Their first service begins from Oslo to New York-JFK on 14th June 2022, with flights also launching to Fort Lauderdale (Florida), Orlando (Florida) and Los Angeles. All flights are operated using their Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Last week, the airline announced they are launching flights from London Gatwick Airport to New York-JFK on 12th August 2022, as well as a temporary service tag-on from Oslo to Gatwick until they have local crew in the UK. The airline is also expected to also launch flights from Paris and additional services from Gatwick too.
Image Source: Norse Atlantic Airways
On-board experience should be okay
Unlike Scoot, who use the same aircraft and similar model, the offering aboard Norse is a little bit more premium. Regardless of travel class, all passengers have an inflight entertainment screen but there is little more included in the cheapest fares. Thankfully, USB charging appears to be free!
Image Source: Norse Atlantic Airways
Economy Class is in a standard 3-3-3 setup although there is no advertisement of how much legroom you get. Economy fares are split between:
Light: 1 x underseat bag
Classic: Likely to be the most popular option with the above in addition to 10kg carry-on, 23kg of luggage and one meal service.
Plus: As per Classic with priority boarding, seat selection and changeable ticket (with fare difference payable) as well as refund to airline credit.
Image Source: Norse Atlantic Airways
Premium is Norse’s Premium Economy option with extra recline and ‘35% additional leg room’ — albeit the specific figure is not advertised, Thrifty Traveller note it as 43 inches of legroom and a 12 inch recline. Fares are split in a similar fashion to Economy:
Light: 1 x underseat bag, 10kg carry-on, two meals, premium boarding and priority check-in.
Classic: As above plus 23kg of checked luggage.
Plus: As ‘Premium Light’ plus 2 x 23kg checked luggage and Changeable/Refundable (in the same way as Economy Plus).
The experience seems okay, but beyond the limited amount of text and two pictures on the website there is very little information available. However…
Source: Norwegian Air Shuttle
Isn’t this just Norwegian reincarnated?
The interesting thing about Norse is that in all but name it is a reincarnation of Norwegian Airlines who until 2020 operated low cost, long-haul services from airports including Oslo and London Gatwick with a primary focus on the US and several other places such as Rio de Janeiro, Bangkok and Singapore. This airline was run by CEO Bjørn Kjos and executive Bjørn Tore Larsen as a subsidiary of Norwegian Air Shuttle, a low cost, short-haul airline which is still operating. The airline operated with two classes and the same Boeing 787 aircraft. After the closure of the long-haul unit, the aforementioned executives announced Norse Atlantic - which has the same business model as Norwegian. Although there are subtle differences beyond just the name, the experience should be similar between the former Norwegian Long Haul and Norse - mostly because the Boeing 787s acquired are many former Norwegian aircraft. While I never flew Norwegian, I had heard okay things about them so I would suspect if you are looking for a decent, value-driven on-board experience then Norse should be equally amiable.
How does Norse compare?
Transatlantic travel in Economy is not particularly exciting and all airlines will offer a similar experience i.e. in-flight entertainment, a base fare without luggage but with most having at least a snack or meal included. This is going to be the same whether you are on BA, Finnair, AA, Delta, Virgin or United - its all a little bland. The key for most travellers in this target demographic is going to be price.
Norse Economy Light plus adding a carry-on and 1 x meal is around £50 cheaper than British Airways Basic Economy from Gatwick to New York-JFK. While the headline Economy Light price is very cheap (left below), it is highly unlikely that most travellers will be able to go to New York without a carry-on at the very least.
Many will opt for the Norse Economy Classic or British Airways Economy Standard which includes 1 x 23kg on both. Here the gulf between the two widens to around £100 which is a significant premium when the flight times are very similar, departing the same airport and have similar in-flight products.
The most lucrative fare difference is with Premium Economy where the fare is almost £300 more for British Airways, albeit this includes one extra bag. While British Airways Premium Economy does include extra service elements such as an amenity kit, many value conscious passengers looking for an upgrade will likely opt for Norse because the base cost is less - even if you add an extra bag to make it comparable to BA.
What is my take on Norse?
Norse is a strange being. It seems odd to take the business model of Norwegian which failed and effectively do the same thing again but maybe there is a more solid business case this time. As a consumer, this is an excellent market move and will probably have a positive impact of reducing fares in the whole industry. For the large Transatlantic joint ventures, such as BA/American/Finnair/Iberia and Delta/Virgin, they will likely not have too much to worry about in the short to mid-term. Firstly, while BA in the examples may be more expensive for a little more cash you can depart from Heathrow and choose from a total of 12 BA or American flights to New York - giving you a far greater selection which Norse alone will never match. Secondly, having additional competition in the market will be a positive for the joint ventures as they can argue there is space for them and newcomers.
I suspect that the Norse impact will be less on the joint ventures and more on two other recent launches - jetBlue and Play. JetBlue launched UK services last year with their prices being more aligned to those of British Airways than Norse despite being a ‘value’ carrier. It seems hard to see how jetBlue can compete transatlantic while their brand recognition is so low in the UK. JetBlue does have the benefit of having a distinguished business class product called Mint and is known for excellent service in their home US market though. The bigger issue is for an airline such as Play who are using Reykyavik in Iceland as their connecting hub for US flights. In a brief search for Play, their prices were more expensive than Norse and involved a stop as well as going to Stewart Airport which is 63 miles from Manhattan - not ideal. The only part in Play’s favour will be they are developing a network of short haul flights to European cities, some of which do not have direct service to New York, which could be enough to keep them afloat - but that would seem a tall ask.
As for the Norse experience, I may try to hop on a short haul London Gatwick to Oslo service to give it a go since I have no need to travel to New York right now. Let’s see how this plays out for a second time…
