Norwegian Air Discussion

Tenzor07

doc18 wrote: »

I would be concerned about their long-term viability however as all my flights were far from full. I flew PVD-DUB-PVD last week and there were no more than 40 on board each way and my other flights before that were only 2/3 full.

I'm not an expert, however I'd say 2/3rd's full would also be to do with safe aircraft range, the NG into headwinds with wings completely full of fuel as well as any cargo and luggage would be pushing it, if you add on additional passengers then you could be getting outside safe flying protocols...

JCX BXC

Tenzor07 wrote: »

I'm not an expert, however I'd say 2/3rd's full would also be to do with safe aircraft range, the NG into headwinds with wings completely full of fuel as well as any cargo and luggage would be pushing it, if you add on additional passengers then you could be getting outside safe flying protocols...

It's not an NG it's a Max.

Tenzor07

JCX BXC wrote: »

It's not an NG it's a Max.

They use NG and Max though..

JCX BXC

Tenzor07 wrote: »

They use NG and Max though..

They haven't used an NG in months, November is the last time I can find and even then the majority of flights were on the Max.

Tenzor07

JCX BXC wrote: »

They haven't used an NG in months, November is the last time I can find and even then the majority of flights were on the Max.

Checked, looks like the NG is a rare sight now, possibly have them as standby aircraft, they'd definitely need to be topped up full of fuel, as with your car keep going even when the fueling nozzle keeps clicking!

Idbatterim

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/transport-and-tourism/expansion-pushes-norwegian-air-to-larger-than-expected-loss-1.3393218

FatherTed

Expansion at Stewart Airport where Norwegian flies:
https://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/story/news/local/2018/02/15/port-authority-approves-stewart-airport-name-change-expansion/340602002/

JCX BXC

Just popped over to PPRuNe momentarily there, and a very poor picture is being painted for Norwegians sustainability. Possibly slightly dramatic, however from that reading it does not look good in the slightest. If they do fail, it'll be the idea of that type of low cost long haul put to bed for a long time, and at best what will emerge is more basic fares on existing carriers, eg the Low fare on EI no longer includes a check in bag.

john boye

JCX BXC wrote: »

Just popped over to PPRuNe momentarily there, and a very poor picture is being painted for Norwegians sustainability. Possibly slightly dramatic, however from that reading it does not look good in the slightest. If they do fail, it'll be the idea of that type of low cost long haul put to bed for a long time, and at best what will emerge is more basic fares on existing carriers, eg the Low fare on EI no longer includes a check in bag.

Yeah that is what a lot of people feared when Norwegian announced their LCLH ops from Dublin. That they would only drive down the quality of the offerings from Legacy carriers and those basic fares would become the norm after Norwegian etc had flew the coop and we'd all have to pay extra for basic services like checking a bag etc.

jimbis

Well I hope they hold out till at least the end on next month, first trip to nyc for me :pac:

LiamaDelta

A significant number of the flights seem to be arriving later than scheduled to the US, generally 30-60 minutes late. A brief glance at one route I think only about 20% of flights in 2018 arrived on time. Whilst I understand this could be just a winter thing, with adverse jetstreams etc. it seems strange for them to have gotten it so wrong (or maybe not as it's their first year). Is this just poor planning? Would it be a sign of it leading to increased costs?

kub

That is a fair point about the winter jetstream, but surely heading in the opposite direction they have the wind behind them so surely this has a timing improvement and a cost saving.

marcoz

kub wrote: »

That is a fair point about the winter jetstream, but surely heading in the opposite direction they have the wind behind them so surely this has a timing improvement and a cost saving.

Exactly. I flew DUB to SWF last week and while the flight over was 8 hours the flight back was only 5he 30mins. Bloody brilliant service. Great flight. Nice staff, brand new airplanes. I'll be back for more

Noxegon

Not Norwegian, but I flew LHR-AUS last week. 10h45 on the way over, 8h05 on the way back. So yes, the jet stream makes a serious difference.

LiamaDelta

kub wrote: »

That is a fair point about the winter jetstream, but surely heading in the opposite direction they have the wind behind them so surely this has a timing improvement and a cost saving.

True, but I was more thinking along the lines of them being consistently out of sync with their schedule being the main cost. What I mean is you can rarely make a saving if it's not planned, so for instance the shorter time on the way back only serves to save on fuel, but does nothing to save money on staff costs, or make an aircraft available for an extra rotation etc. Being consistently off with your schedule/route timings, to me, points to poor planning. Having said that, maybe they'll alter their planned timings based on the data for this year.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Does anyone know if Norwegian weigh your carry on bags when you check in at Dublin Airport? And are they strict on sizing, i.e. measuring it at the gate/sizers etc?

mmg0305

When I went, back in October, nobody in Dublin seemed to care about my carrry-on (which wouldn't have been a problem for size/weight). However, on the way back (Stewart), they were weighing EVERYTHING and charging.

Johann.

mmg0305 wrote: »

When I went, back in October, nobody in Dublin seemed to care about my carrry-on (which wouldn't have been a problem for size/weight). However, on the way back (Stewart), they were weighing EVERYTHING and charging.

This too was my experience. Not a care given in Dublin, but in Stewart they were all over it.

Locker10a

Plus if your on the 737 they have the same problem as Ryanair in that all the luggage won’t fit onboard and so they will check in some bags for free at the gate or desk. Contrary to popular belief the “sky interior” does NOT have more overhead locker space

LiamaDelta

Locker10a wrote: »

Plus if your on the 737 they have the same problem as Ryanair in that all the luggage won’t fit onboard and so they will check in some bags for free at the gate or desk. Contrary to popular belief the “sky interior” does NOT have more overhead locker space

Yeah totally misleading...you'd think there's be tons of space, like the real sky:D

Locker10a

LiamaDelta wrote: »

Locker10a wrote: »

Plus if your on the 737 they have the same problem as Ryanair in that all the luggage won’t fit onboard and so they will check in some bags for free at the gate or desk. Contrary to popular belief the “sky interior” does NOT have more overhead locker space

Yeah totally misleading...you'd think there's be tons of space, like the real sky:D

Honestly, I’ve seen people complain about the new Ryanair baggage policy claiming it’s unnessary as their new aircraft have new “sky interiors” with new lockers which seemingly have infinite space...

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

kevinandrew

Good stuff. 

Hopefully the bubble won't burst too soon.

Flyer1

Definitely more space in the overhead bins on the Sky Interior. My travel bag fits easily in the Sky Interior whereas in the Legacy bins its a big squeeze.

Locker10a

Flyer1 wrote: »

Definitely more space in the overhead bins on the Sky Interior. My travel bag fits easily in the Sky Interior whereas in the Legacy bins its a big squeeze.

Minimal difference, not like the 787 bins where bags can go on their side. The issue is the new bin design means they are individual compartments, where before you had huge long lockers with several doors on them you could squeeze more in along the locker.

zell12

Norwegian close Edinburgh base from 2019, citing APD as the reason.

Are UKers catching Ryanair flights to Dub and doing a self-transfer to avoid the £75 APD tax and avail of preclearance?

Locker10a

zell12 wrote: »

Norwegian close Edinburgh base from 2019, citing APD as the reason.

Are UKers catching Ryanair flights to Dub and doing a self-transfer to avoid the £75 APD tax and avail of preclearance?

EDI has been wound down gradually for a while now sadly. Airlines will always blame someone or something when a route isn’t working, it needn’t necessarily be true.
Rumours are the transatlantic MAX operation isn’t going to well, only rumours I know!
What’s true is Norwegian are in the process of setting up a new Swedish AOC. The idea is they will be then permitted to operate a dual AOC which the IAA doesn’t permit. Rumours are rife that once this happens the Irish operation will be skeletal. Obviously if there’s healthy profits being made they’ll make it work, but if not...who knows

Tabnabs

Discontinuing their Belfast routes too. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/airline-norwegian-ends-belfast-to-new-york-and-boston-flights-37348378.html

kevinandrew

I think saying Dublin is the best of a bad bunch for Norwegian would be a fair assessment at this stage. I think it’s working (just about) because there is a ready made market there for them unlike in Belfast and Edinburgh which had far smaller markets to exploit.


The Cork operation is shaky, already seasonal and unlikely to find an easy path to year round profitability. Shannon has seen chopping and changing, mainly to avoid Aer Lingus competition but a misfire has resulted in them piling capacity on a route where Aer Lingus is planning to do the same thing.


We’ll see them throw capacity at Dublin in the coming seasons, there’s very few places for those 737s to go now so they’ll try the “grow to profitability” plan that’s worked so well for them elsewhere...

Idbatterim

IF they are consolidating , would they not launch new routes on already popular routes, like Dublin to Edinburgh / Glasgow and use this to also feed their Dublin hub etc...