Norwegian Air Discussion

737max

US originating passengers - I'd wager they're recent Irish economic migrants and not a sign that Aer Lingus is winning the hearts and minds of flyers outside the existing Irish gene pool.
I'd be one of those European flyers that you suggest are fresh blood for the airline.
My observations are Lufthansa flights are mostly German visitors. Aer Lingus mostly Irish and some Paddys transferring through hub from Australia. Ryanair to Kerry - holidaymakers from Germany. Ryanair to Dublin - a mix

I checked a flight in mid October and Norwegian are about 45% cheaper than Aer Lingus(even before trying tricks like booking through Bokmal with a funny dot on top of the "a "which boards.ie forum software doesn't seem to like.

bk

kevinandrew wrote: »

Aer Lingus are updating their IFE, the new A330s already feature a new system and increased content. The older aircraft are getting retrofitted too at some point in the near future. 

Fantastic, badly needed, the current system is terrible. I hope this also means the following enhancements:

- USB charging sockets
- Plug at every seat, next to the IFE screen
AA had this, fantastic, worked well. I've never gotten AL's to work and their location is a pain to reach. AA's ones are right next to the IFE screen
- Replace the stupid two prong headphone jack with a standard jack.
- Reduce the loudness of the announcements. They blow your eardrums out on AL!
- Get rid of the underseat IFE box taking up leg room. No need for it in this day and age.

The AA flight had all that and it was great. Do you know if AL's new system has all the above?

Also I hope they improve the wifi. It is really terrrible on AL, doesn't work much and AL have the gall to charge quiet a bit for it. At least it is free on Norwegian so you don't feel hard done by if it doesn't work.

kevinandrew wrote: »

The SFO-JFK flight you took with AA is part of a highly competitive New York - West Coast transcon market, the airlines on these routes compete on service and often have a completely different product on offer, sometimes better than their transatlantic service. Both American Airlines and JetBlue use brand new A321s with dedicated fleets and updated cabins, JetBlue even designed their Mint service specifically for West Coast service. They all have lie flat seats in premium cabins, wifi throughout and all the extras you'd find on long haul. Even United will now add a three class 777 on the routes. 

Yes exactly, strong competition leads to better service for the customer

I'm hoping AL facing more competition from the likes of Norwegian, force them to up their game and offer a better quality of service and product to their customers.

I agree with you. I don't hope Nor destroy AL. That would be bad for us customers, less choice. I hope they can both survive and prosper and keep each other on their toes.

1123heavy

bk wrote: »

Fantastic, badly needed, the current system is terrible. I hope this also means the following enhancements:

- USB charging sockets
- Plug at every seat, next to the IFE screen
AA had this, fantastic, worked well. I've never gotten AL's to work and their location is a pain to reach. AA's ones are right next to the IFE screen
- Replace the stupid two prong headphone jack with a standard jack.
- Reduce the loudness of the announcements. They blow your eardrums out on AL!
- Get rid of the underseat IFE box taking up leg room. No need for it in this day and age.

On my flight to LA we had the charging sockets at each seat, the two prong headphone jack i'm lead to believe is purposely designed that way cos they don't want people plugging in their own headphones for risk of damage. As for the IFE box, I shouldn't comment where I'm not qualified but isn't that standard? I've flown Qatar Airways on their much glorified 787s and had that box at me.

jjbrien

bk wrote: »

Fantastic, badly needed, the current system is terrible. I hope this also means the following enhancements:

- USB charging sockets
- Plug at every seat, next to the IFE screen
AA had this, fantastic, worked well. I've never gotten AL's to work and their location is a pain to reach. AA's ones are right next to the IFE screen
- Replace the stupid two prong headphone jack with a standard jack.
- Reduce the loudness of the announcements. They blow your eardrums out on AL!
- Get rid of the underseat IFE box taking up leg room. No need for it in this day and age.

The AA flight had all that and it was great. Do you know if AL's new system has all the above?

Also I hope they improve the wifi. It is really terrrible on AL, doesn't work much and AL have the gall to charge quiet a bit for it. At least it is free on Norwegian so you don't feel hard done by if it doesn't work.



Yes exactly, strong competition leads to better service for the customer

I'm hoping AL facing more competition from the likes of Norwegian, force them to up their game and offer a better quality of service and product to their customers.

I agree with you. I don't hope Nor destroy AL. That would be bad for us customers, less choice. I hope they can both survive and prosper and keep each other on their toes.

AL had the normal headphone jack on the A330-300 which was great, however the movies they had were old they had like 5 new ones but the rest were all very old from the 90' and 00's. They did have USB power but it wasn't enough to hold the charge of my phone.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Bussywussy

The only update to EI IFE will be the monitors retrofitted to the ones that have older monitors,theres no system change,it will still be the ex2 system.

bk

1123heavy wrote: »

On my flight to LA we had the charging sockets at each seat, the two prong headphone jack i'm lead to believe is purposely designed that way cos they don't want people plugging in their own headphones for risk of damage. As for the IFE box, I shouldn't comment where I'm not qualified but isn't that standard? I've flown Qatar Airways on their much glorified 787s and had that box at me.

The thing about the two pronged jack isn't true. Just read up about it and the reason they did it was to try and stop people from stealing the airline supplied headphones. People wouldn't bother stealing them as they wouldn't work with their other devices.

Of course that isn't really relevant any more given how cheap headphones have become and how they come free with all phones, etc. these days, plus how crap the AL supplied headphones are.

Also another reason was that in the past on some airlines (I don't know if AL did), you had to pay to get the airline supplied headphone, the special jack stopped you from using your own and thus getting "free" audio.

Just shows how times have changed!

Modern IFE's have been coming with standard jacks for years now, it just shows how slow AL are to upgrade.

The IFE box was standard in the past. But certainly not needed in our modern world with super thin iPads with 100+ GB's of storage space. Not that AL needs so much storage, their selection of content is so small it would easily fit on even 32GB of storage!

Some IFE manufacturers still use the box (which is why you still see it on some 787's and BTW it is the airline who choose the IFE system and supplier, not Boeing, so nothing to directly do with the 787's), but others have eliminated it completely, putting everything in the seat back instead. Given how important reducing weight and freeing up leg room is, you would think it would be a priority.

It is one of those things that could easily make the flight more comfortable for the passengers.

john boye

[/QUOTE]

On my flight to LA we had the charging sockets at each seat, the two prong headphone jack i'm lead to believe is purposely designed that way cos they don't want people plugging in their own headphones for risk of damage. As for the IFE box, I shouldn't comment where I'm not qualified but isn't that standard? I've flown Qatar Airways on their much glorified 787s and had that box at me.[/quote]

Think you're right on the headphones jack, I've been told off on flights with other airlines for using my own earphones. Can see why, the PA can be deafening if you have it turned up loud!

callmepetardu

I'm a student. Booking a trip over to the US with EI is twice the price of flying with Norwegian and to be honest, it was a very big factor.

That and the issues EI are having in the airport... There's three a330s out of action and the a340s they have leased are well below par. Flight to BOS on Tuesday was cancelled due to smoke in the cockpit/cabin crew going out of hours. It was an Omni Air International a340, for those wondering!

Flying to Providence next month and I'm beyond excited. Have seen the 737Max running a few routes to Stewart so I'm quietly optimistic that I'll somehow get to fly on that.

I've been lurking here for a long time and just wanted to give my 2c on the matter because the stick Norwegian are getting seems a bit unfair. After seeing all the delays and general screw ups on EI over the summer, I'm very glad I'm not flying with them!

Bussywussy

callmepetardu wrote: »

I'm a student. Booking a trip over to the US with EI is twice the price of flying with Norwegian and to be honest, it was a very big factor.

That and the issues EI are having in the airport... There's three a330s out of action and the a340s they have leased are well below par. Flight to BOS on Tuesday was cancelled due to smoke in the cockpit/cabin crew going out of hours. It was an Omni Air International a340, for those wondering!

Flying to Providence next month and I'm beyond excited. Have seen the 737Max running a few routes to Stewart so I'm quietly optimistic that I'll somehow get to fly on that.

I've been lurking here for a long time and just wanted to give my 2c on the matter because the stick Norwegian are getting seems a bit unfair. After seeing all the delays and general screw ups on EI over the summer, I'm very glad I'm not flying with them!

Do omni have 340s???

L1011

Bussywussy wrote: »

Do omni have 340s???

They were from HiFly. They use more than Omni and Titan if needed

callmepetardu

L1011 wrote: »

They were from HiFly. They use more than Omni and Titan if needed

It was definitely Omni, saw it with my own eyes. Didn't get a picture but I got a pillow with OAI branding on it, if that counts.

L1011

callmepetardu wrote: »

It was definitely Omni, saw it with my own eyes. Didn't get a picture but I got a pillow with OAI branding on it, if that counts.

It wasn't a 340 then. 767 or 777

Rawr

callmepetardu wrote: »

It was definitely Omni, saw it with my own eyes. Didn't get a picture but I got a pillow with OAI branding on it, if that counts.

HiFly appear to have a knack of leaving their planes completely white, while using the lessors branded head-rest 'napkin' thingies. It could very well be that OAI or IE supplied a HiFly flight with OAI branded items for the flight, thus making it look like an OAI flight.

However as said, OAI don't have A340s, only 777 or 767.

Interestingly when Norwegian first launched their long haul network (for Norway/Sweden/Denmark) they also had to lease in HiFly to run the initial flights with A340s. Their first delivery of 787s had been delayed by the battery scare back in the Dreamliner's early days.

callmepetardu

Rawr wrote: »

HiFly appear to have a knack of leaving their planes completely white, while using the lessors branded head-rest 'napkin' thingies. It could very well be that OAI or IE supplied a HiFly flight with OAI branded items for the flight, thus making it look like an OAI flight.

However as said, OAI don't have A340s, only 777 or 767.

Interestingly when Norwegian first launched their long haul network (for Norway/Sweden/Denmark) they also had to lease in HiFly to run the initial flights with A340s. Their first delivery of 787s had been delayed by the battery scare back in the Dreamliner's early days.

Ah crap, sorry! I'm definitely wrong then. I've seen the HiFly A340s and just got excited about the OAI planes.

goingnowhere

ec-lzo the hired in 767 was parked up this evening at the west apron

Captain_Crash

callmepetardu wrote: »

After seeing all the delays and general screw ups on EI over the summer, I'm very glad I'm not flying with them!

That's a perfectly fair statement to make and one most could agree on. However; using your logic, do the cancellations, delays and diversions Norwegian have experienced during the past few weeks not concern you?

Granted, EI haven't had the best of weeks, but the effort is being made to get people where they're going. Don't forget that a ticket is a contract of carriage not service, and EI have done everything they can to get everyone impacted where they need to be in a reasonable amount of time, and have offered reimbursement to anyone impacted by these issues (which all airlines experience from time to time... BA have a short haul strike at the minute & VS will be leasing four 767's from DL to cover a engine upgrades on some brand new 787's to name but two of hundreds of issues airlines experience around the globe on a daily basis)

bk

Captain_Crash wrote: »

That's a perfectly fair statement to make and one most could agree on. However; using your logic, do the cancellations, delays and diversions Norwegian have experienced during the past few weeks not concern you?

Granted, EI haven't had the best of weeks, but the effort is being made to get people where they're going. Don't forget that a ticket is a contract of carriage not service, and EI have done everything they can to get everyone impacted where they need to be in a reasonable amount of time, and have offered reimbursement to anyone impacted by these issues (which all airlines experience from time to time...

Yes and fair play to them. But also worth noting the Norwegian also seemed to do everything possible to help their passengers, etc. with their early issues.

I did think some of the remarks some posters were making with glee about the early Norwegian start up issues was a little unfair given the issues EI are having and which all airlines suffer from time to time.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and all that.

Captain_Crash

bk wrote: »

Yes and fair play to them. But also worth noting the Norwegian also seemed to do everything possible to help their passengers, etc. with their early issues.

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more! In my view this thread has turned from discussing DY and their new operation t/a from Ireland to an EI/DY amen sometimes US airline bashing extravaganza....

But to bring it back on topic, they had a few hiccups when the flights first started, but DY as a whole are a very large airline and are more than capable of making this venture work... equally it could go to sh*t just as quickly but I'm delighted we have another operator across the pond and despite my affiliation with EI, I really want to see it work...

I remember the days when all we had was 3 EI 747's and a daily DL Tristar to ferry people to the US, I'd never have imagined the choice we have available to us 25 years later

Marn02

I have been trying to check-in online but not having any luck. Anyone else have this problem? I hoping I can do it at the airport tomorrow,

Rawr

Marn02 wrote: »

I have been trying to check-in online but not having any luck. Anyone else have this problem? I hoping I can do it at the airport tomorrow,

On-line check in is usually optional with Norwegian. It's fine to check-in in person at Dublin (and they won't sting you with a charge for that either).

Over here at the airports in Norway, most passengers flying Norwegian will tend to use Norwegian/Avinor check-in kiosks to check-in (or web check-in if they're really in a hurry), and then use an automated bag-drop kiosk to drop off the bags. Fairly often (all going well) the only Ground Handling staff you'll need to deal with are the gate agents boarding you onto the flight!

I'd really like Norwegian to set up some of their kiosks at DUB. My last Norwegian flight I took back to OSL from DUB involved a painfully slow queue to check in which must have taken the guts of half an hour. Compared with the 2-3 minutes it too me to check myself in over at OSL, it felt like an eternity

LilRedDorcha

Attempted to fly with Norwegian yesterday and it didn't go well at all. We were due to fly from Dublin to Providence, but had to turn back after an hour because of an issue with the tracking system. Spent maybe 3 hours then trying to burn off enough fuel to land, which is fair enough. We were told it'd take off at midnight so I decided I'd just take my bags and leave, try to find another way out today. Apparently the flight then got cancelled at around 10.30pm and was scheduled to take off this morning. From looking, that flight was also delayed by over an hour.

The pilot didn't keep us informed of what was happening, but the rest of the crew were great. When we landed they had only 2 people dealing with a full flight of people, and neither were Norwegian air employees. They ran out of vouchers at one point.

To be fair, they were great to facilitate my refund of the return journey too, but it wasn't a great experience overall.

Blut2

LilRedDorcha wrote: »

Attempted to fly with Norwegian yesterday and it didn't go well at all. We were due to fly from Dublin to Providence, but had to turn back after an hour because of an issue with the tracking system. Spent maybe 3 hours then trying to burn off enough fuel to land, which is fair enough. We were told it'd take off at midnight so I decided I'd just take my bags and leave, try to find another way out today. Apparently the flight then got cancelled at around 10.30pm and was scheduled to take off this morning. From looking, that flight was also delayed by over an hour.

The pilot didn't keep us informed of what was happening, but the rest of the crew were great. When we landed they had only 2 people dealing with a full flight of people, and neither were Norwegian air employees. They ran out of vouchers at one point.

To be fair, they were great to facilitate my refund of the return journey too, but it wasn't a great experience overall.

There seem to be quite a few stories emerging of severe delays/re-routes. All anecdotal I'm aware, but I am curious to see what the operational stats will look like after a few months.

embraer170

LilRedDorcha wrote: »

Attempted to fly with Norwegian yesterday and it didn't go well at all. We were due to fly from Dublin to Providence, but had to turn back after an hour because of an issue with the tracking system. Spent maybe 3 hours then trying to burn off enough fuel to land, which is fair enough. We were told it'd take off at midnight so I decided I'd just take my bags and leave, try to find another way out today. Apparently the flight then got cancelled at around 10.30pm and was scheduled to take off this morning. From looking, that flight was also delayed by over an hour.

The pilot didn't keep us informed of what was happening, but the rest of the crew were great. When we landed they had only 2 people dealing with a full flight of people, and neither were Norwegian air employees. They ran out of vouchers at one point.

To be fair, they were great to facilitate my refund of the return journey too, but it wasn't a great experience overall.

Don't forget your EU261 compensation.

LXFlyer

Blut2 wrote: »

There seem to be quite a few stories emerging of severe delays/re-routes. All anecdotal I'm aware, but I am curious to see what the operational stats will look like after a few months.

The problem is that if something does go wrong, there are no backup aircraft locally based - they have to be flown in from Scandinavia and that does take time.

737max

GOOD NEWS!

more flights to be added.
http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/274468/norwegian-air-international-boosts-us-service-in-s18/

long range narrow aisle planes are a disruptive technology and one needs to consider the effect on the big carriers who have a stangle-hold over the main hubs on either side of the atlantic.

A range long enough to link Dublin and New York can or will be pushed 10 to 20% farther with only incremental improvements in efficiency of planes and then most secondary European airports will be within reach of East Coast USA.

gizmo81

737max wrote: »

GOOD NEWS!

more flights to be added.
http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/274468/norwegian-air-international-boosts-us-service-in-s18/

long range narrow aisle planes are a disruptive technology and one needs to consider the effect on the big carriers who have a stangle-hold over the main hubs on either side of the atlantic.

A range long enough to link Dublin and New York can or will be pushed 10 to 20% farther with only incremental improvements in efficiency of planes and then most secondary European airports will be within reach of East Coast USA.

Must be popular so, also I note the price of my upcoming flight has actually dropped by €30.

TimHorton

Went SNN to SWF and could not fault it , One thing I noticed is the 2 Billboard Advertisements outside Stewart Airport omit Cork on in the List of Destinations...All others were listed.

JCX BXC

TimHorton wrote: »

Went SNN to SWF and could not fault it , One thing I noticed is the 2 Billboard Advertisements outside Stewart Airports omit Cork on in the List of Destinations...

That's because Cork isn't a destination from Stewart, you can only fly Cork-Providence.

737max

Cork Airport and Local government needs to realise there has been disruption in the market and if they only had a longer runway they could exploit it.
A fancy terminal is no substitute for a longer runway.
DAA might not see that as a priority though.
Likewise Dublin Airport should recognise that the market for transfers might dry up(or not grow) and should instead try to promote indigenous growth rather than thinking there is a large market to steal business away from Heathrow, Franfurt and CdG.

1 seat restricted 737max flying daily to and from the States is easily over 100,000 passengers.
That's a nice prize which dovetails with what should be the objectives of the state owned organisation to serve the interests of the nation and its Citizens.