Posted on 07/03/2014 9:37:34 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Norwegian is running direct, low-cost routes on a new Dreamliner plane between Gatwick, New York, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale. As with other budget flights, seat reservations, checked-in luggage and food will cost extra.
The carrier suggests the flights will help spark competition between airlines—Ryanair and easyJet have both previously talked about going transatlantic—and perhaps even start a price war, but the launch has not been without hitch.
Norwegian encountered fierce opposition in America over the proposition, with several US airlines, unions and the Airline Pilots Organization (ALPA) teaming up to run a media campaign over the last few months, demanding that Norwegian’s subsidiary, Norwegian Air International (NAI), be denied a permit for transatlantic routes.
The campaign, aspects of which Norwegian has called “slanderous”, suggests that NAI established its base in Dublin to circumvent the employment laws of Norway and the US and therefore reduce overall costs on the new routes. …
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Shades of Freddie Laker.
Are they flying DC-10’s?
Article says “Dreamliners”, so that would be the Boeing 787.
more competition the better
Just kidding. The 787 is quite an upgrade from the old (grounded) DC-10’s. Gives a whole new meaning to SkyTrain...Sir Freddie Laker would be proud.
Wikipedia says they have six 787s in service today and eight more on order.IIIRC the rest of their fleet is 737s and other small aircraft...incapable of doing transoceanic flights.
There are some classes of 737 that can fly across the Atlantic. British Airways has some, ironically flying on the same flight numbers as the former Concorde.
A 737 crossing the Atlantic?? Hell,a two hour flight from Boston to Tampa in a 737 is torture to me!
They’re generally not economy class.
US Airlines are getting $1600-1900 MINIMUM for the most restrictive Round-trip tickets across the pond this summer. And don’t even think about what they are charging for Biz Class right now. (Per ITA Software, a RT Biz class ticket to Paris for this week, on Delta, is $14,857.http://matrix.itasoftware.com/view/flights?session=f86ba356-af2f-41f4-8c40-4597ee08a8ee
Of course they are going to whine about low-cost competition.
That same ticket from Toronto, where there is much more competition, is around $650US.
The Dreamliner is amazing. They pressurize the cabin differently -due to the aircraft’s skin. It’s about 30% less pressure, so your body doesn’t have the typical jet lag feeling.
I just wonder how many seats they’ll pack into this 787...to get their $$’s worth :-/
Hmm. Part of Vision Airlines. I wonder if they’ll have broken toilets like the old PEX had on their EWR-LGW ex-Braniff 747s?
checked-in luggage,food, seat ,seat belt and Oxygen will cost extra
While cabin pressurization may be a factor in "that jet lag feeling" the biggest factor,by far,is the body's "internal clock".I've done a fair amount of east/west traveling in my day (and also a fair amount of shift work in a hospital)...some of the flights having passed through 10 or 11 time zones.When that little clock says "time for bedtime" yet detects bright sunlight every part of your body gets confused...particularly the brain.The result...jet lag.
It also has to do with hydration.
Here’s an article about it....
They would come around and sell you peanuts and soda for about 50 cents a pop. Not a bad deal. But I remember being stuck in Newark during a snowstorm around 1985 and sleeping on the floor of the terminal. I was still in my 20s then so it was sort of an adventure.
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