Norwegian's Irish arm prepares for transatlantic travel

Following a three-year battle, the company’s Irish arm was granted a foreign carrier permit by the US Department of Transport last Friday. This gives them permission to operate direct routes between America and Ireland.

The new routes will run daily between Cork and Shannon airports in Ireland, and Boston and New York in the US, launching from summer 2017 and with fares starting at £135 one way.

Chief executive Bjorn Kjos said: “Our transatlantic growth will continue now that the US Department of Transportation has finally given our EU carrier a permit to fly to and from the US. The approval also means that we can create more jobs in Europe and the US, as well as contributing to local economies through increased tourism.”

Dublin and Shannon airports currently offer preclearance for America in Ireland, but there are no plans yet to introduce this to Cork airport. The full flight details are expected to be announced in early 2017, with bookings starting soon after.

Norwegian has taken on 20 new aircraft already this year as part of a company-wide expansion plan. It is expected for the airline to consider bringing in further transatlantic routes from Ireland now that they have approval from the US government.

The news comes as it was revealed that more than 2.2 million people travelled with Norwegian in November.

Figures revealed that much of the traffic was driven by an increasing interest in long-haul flights, with 70% more passengers than in the same period last year.

Their total traffic growth increased by 31% with a load factor of 84%, an increase of one percentage point.