Norwegian is planning to restart its flights between London Gatwick and Oslo, London Gatwick and Copenhagen, Edinburgh and Oslo and Edinburgh and Copenhagen from July 1, 2020.
The London to Oslo will be operated seven times a week, London to Copenhagen six times a week, while the Edinburgh to Oslo and Copenhagen flights will operate twice a week respectively.
The carrier says that the flights are as a result of increased customer demand, though it has previously indicated that it is unlikely to return to long haul until 2021.
Since April Norwegian has operated eight aircraft on domestic routes in Norway. The new flights (including in Europe) see another 12 aircraft re-join the fleet to be put into operation across Scandinavia.
From July Norwegian will operate 76 routes across Europe from the airline’s Scandinavian hubs compared to the 13 domestic Norway only flights served today. Other destinations include Spain, Greece and key European cities.
The airline says that further destinations and frequency increases will be announced in due course subject to passenger demand and government travel restrictions.
The airline has put in place new safety measures including:
- Travellers that are six years and older must use a facemask, as recommended by the European aviation authorities.
- Passengers will be asked to keep their distance during boarding and deboarding.
- Hand luggage should be placed under the seat in front to minimise queuing in the cabin. Hand luggage that is too big to be placed under the seat in front needs to be checked in beforehand.
- Passengers will be seated with as much distance between them as possible. The mid row seats will be the last to be occupied. Passengers and families travelling together will be seated together.
- There is no catering on board to minimise the contact between our customers and our crew.
- Aircraft are disinfected “thoroughly according to strict guidelines and have placed extra focus on contact points on board”.
Norwegian says that its aircraft are fitted with an advanced air filtration system that removes bacteria and viruses in the air. It is the same technology that is used in hospitals and operation theatres. The air inside the cabin is filtered every three to four minutes so that our customers can feel safe that the air onboard is clean when travelling with us.
The airline also says that “Evidence suggests that the risk of becoming infected on board an aircraft is low. If suspicion arises that there is a case of infection on board, we have routines and equipment in place to handle it in a safe manner.”
