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Norwegian Air continues its impressive expansion in Europe, opening up a new long-haul base in Rome for some of the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners – including three new routes to the US.

The first three long-haul destinations served from the Rome base will be

• New York (Newark)
• Los Angeles (LAX)
• San Francisco (Oakland)

The first flights are due to start in November 2017.

Norwegian’s Chief Commercial Officer, Thomas Ramdahl, said the following about the latest expansion:

“Rome is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, and a favourite among Americans, so it was an obvious choice for us as we continue to expand our transatlantic presence. Soon Norwegian will offer more transatlantic routes than any other airline in the world. More transatlantic routes mean we will create more US and European jobs and offer travellers even more affordable fares.” 

Good news?

Yes – I certainly think so anyway.

Norwegian’s growth over the last few years has been remarkable and is a genuine ‘game changer’ when it comes to low cost long-haul flights. The more routes they serve, the lower the prices will be from the competition – so even if you don’t travel on Norwegian yourself, you might well still see a benefit from them challenging the old legacy carriers.

Norwegian now offers flights to 11 destinations in the United States direct from the UK: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Orlando, Boston, Hartford, Providence, Seattle and Denver. You can also fly to Singapore on Norwegian direct from London for just £261 Return.

Bottom line

With traditional long-haul carriers like British Airways cutting back the perks of travelling on a ‘full service’ airline, the low cost challengers like Norwegian are busily seizing the opportunity.

I’ve flown Norwegian overnight back from the US in Economy and it was absolutely fine – nice modern plane, friendly staff, etc. I would have liked a bit more room of course, but that would be the case with any transatlantic Economy product!

In other words, if you’re looking for a cheap flight to the USA, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Norwegian and will be flying with them again myself over the Summer.