Norwegian Air Shuttle: Asia's longhaul LCC model comes to the N Atlantic (but watch falling profits)

Norwegian Air Shuttle reported a fall in 3Q2013 net profit, affected by Boeing 787 disruptions and weaker demand as a result of the good northern European summer weather. Nevertheless, Norwegian continues to build for the future and announced its first UK-US trans-Atlantic routes on 17-Oct-2013.

In Jul-2014, Norwegian will launch three long-haul routes from London Gatwick to Los Angeles, New York and Fort Lauderdale, in addition to the trans-Atlantic routes operated from its Scandinavian bases. The airline is already using 787-8s on its Bangkok service.

This will be the first modern attempt to introduce the successful Asian long-haul LCC model to the North Atlantic from the UK, a concept that Ryanair's Michael O'Leary has often floated in the past. Earlier this month Qantas subsidiary Jetstar took delivery of the first of a fleet of 787-8s that it will be using on long-haul routes in Asia. SIA subsidiary Scoot will receive 787-8/9s from late 2014 and AirAsia X will use A350-900s from 2018.