Norwegian to acquire an additional 28 weekly slots at London Gatwick

Norwegian today confirmed it has acquired an additional 28 weekly slots at London Gatwick Airport from summer 2018. The take-off and landing slots, purchased from Small Planet Airlines, will allow Norwegian to plan for continued growth at Gatwick as the airline heads into its busiest ever year in the UK in 2018.

London Gatwick is at the heart of Norwegian’s fast-growing UK operation, where the airline already flies more than 4.6 million passengers each year to over 30 global destinations. Norwegian’s route network at Gatwick includes affordable long-haul flights to 9 US cities and Singapore, with further long-haul routes to Argentina, Chicago and Austin launching early next year.

Planning work is now underway to allocate the newly acquired 28 weekly slots which cover the busy summer 2018 period at London Gatwick.

Norwegian Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Ramdahl said: “London Gatwick is at the heart of our global growth ambitions so securing these crucial new slots will allow us to offer our passengers even more new routes, additional flights and affordable fares. Together with the launch of new routes to Argentina, Chicago and Austin in 2018, gaining extra capacity at London Gatwick is another huge boost as we get ready for our biggest ever year in the UK.”

Norwegian in the UK fact file:

• Norwegian carries 5.2 million UK passengers each year from London Gatwick, Edinburgh, Belfast and Manchester Airports to 50 destinations worldwide

• Norwegian is the third largest airline at London Gatwick, with 4.6 million yearly passengers, and with more than 1,000 UK-based pilots and cabin crew

• In 2014, Norwegian introduced the UK’s first low-cost, long haul flights to the U.S. – the airline now flies to 9 U.S destinations and Singapore with fares from just £139 one way

• In 2017, Norwegian also launched affordable transatlantic flights from Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Cork and Shannon to the US East Coast, using the brand new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft

• The airline has one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the world with an average age of 3.6 years, including next-generation Boeing 787 Dreamliners and Boeing 737-800s

• Norwegian has been voted ‘Europe’s best low-cost carrier’ by passengers for five consecutive years at SkyTrax World Airline Awards from 2013-2017, along with being awarded the ‘World’s best low-cost long-haul airline’ in 2015, 2016 and 2017

• Norwegian Reward is the airline’s free to join award-winning loyalty programme offering members CashPoints and Rewards that reduce the cost of Norwegian flights