Norwegian has outlined its plans for flights between Scandinavia and the UK / Ireland next summer, offering a total of 142 weekly flights.
The majority of these will be to and from Gatwick, with 115 weekly flights connecting the London airport with Oslo, Stavanger, Trondheim, Bergen, Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen.
Edinburgh will see a total of 15 weekly flights to and from Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen, while there will be eight weekly flights between Manchester and Oslo, Stavanger, Bergen and Stockholm, and four weekly flights between from Dublin to Oslo and Copenhagen.
Norwegian said it would operate a total of 259 routes from the Nordics for summer 2022, “as a result of travel restrictions and quarantine requirements easing and consequently demand for flights increasing”.
The carrier was badly impacted by Covid-19 travel restrictions during 2020, and was forced to officially abandon its long-haul network in January this year, subsequently refocusing on a short-haul network to and from core Nordic markets.
Commenting on the news Geir Karlsen, CEO of Norwegian, said:
“We are pleased to be able to present our flying schedule for the next summer season. With this summer schedule we will continue to deliver on our strategy of investing in Norway and the Nordic region.
“In recent months, we have noticed an increased demand from customers, and we look forward to welcoming them on board to their favourite Nordic destinations.
“Norwegian is now well equipped to look ahead to 2022, although we will continue to some extent to be affected by the pandemic as the industry begins to recover.
“We have considerable flexibility in the use of our aircraft, and after the restructuring we have lower debt, an adapted fleet and organisation, and we have received new capital. It has been a tough time, but the result is that we are stronger now than before the pandemic.”
Since the demise of Norwegian’s long-haul business, new start-up carrier Norse Atlantic Airways has emerged (co-founded by previous Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos), with plans to operate long-haul flights out of London, Paris and Oslo to New York, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale.
There is currently no launch date for the airline’s flights, but it recently unveiled its new livery and plans for a fleet of 15 B787 Dreamliner aircraft.
