Norwegian has announced plans to switch airports used for its routes to the Miami and San Francisco areas.

The low-cost carrier currently flies to Fort Lauderdale and Oakland airports from Gatwick, but will switch these services to Miami International and San Francisco International respectively from march 31, 2019.

Norwegian said that the moves reflected customer demand and cargo opportunities.

Fort Lauderdale airport is located around 21 miles north of Miami and serves around 32 million passengers per year. This compares with Miami International which is situated around eight miles northwest of the city centre, and is South Florida’s main airport for long-haul international flights, with around 44 million passengers per year.

Oakland airport is located around 19 miles across the bay from downtown San Francisco and serves around 13 million passengers per year, while San Francisco International is situated around 13 miles south of downtown, and is the seventh busiest airport in the US, with around 55 million passengers per year.

Norwegian says it will offer daily flights to Miami (up from the four times weekly service to Fort Lauderdale last summer), and five flights per week to San Francisco.

Last month British Airways dropped its Gatwick-Oakland route for the winter season, and fellow IAG carrier Level has moved its Barcelona-Oakland airport to San Francisco International.

Commenting on the news Stephen King, Head of Airline Relations, Gatwick Airport, said:

“These new Miami and San Francisco routes will fly passengers straight into the heart of two of America’s most iconic city destinations.

“In all, Norwegian will fly to 11 US destinations from Gatwick next summer, which gives passengers both tremendous choice and exceptional value as the airline offers some of the most competitive long-haul airfares around.”

This week Norwegian also confirmed a new four times weekly route between Gatwick and Rio, which will launch in March.

In other news, Norwegian said that it is to make “small frequency reductions” to two US routes next summer, in order to “free up Boeing 787 Dreamliner capacity, in light of industry-wide mandatory inspections of a specific Rolls Royce engine type”.

Flights to LA will reduce to a daily service, while those to Chicago will reduce to four flights per week.

norwegian.com