Norwegian Air Shuttle

[thunderchild]

Following the disappointing news from Flybe yesterday here is an early Christmas present; Norwegian are launching x3 new routes to BHX next year - Barcelona, Malaga AND Madrid!

Madrid is x3 weekly starting 31st March have, Barcelona x2 weekly starting 1st June and Malaga x2 weekly starting 11th December. All routes year round.

I'm not sure about having x4 carriers on BCN but then again the frequencies aren't exactly high; Malaga should do fine but great to finally have Madrid back!

Good luck!

 

[User0001]

Ray should be happier today!

 

[Brummiegem]

After all the negativity of yesterday this is welcome news,especially Madrid.AGP and BCN are a bit of a surprise but as Thunderchild says the frequencies are not high so may work.
This could be Norwegian testing the water for something bigger,then again it could be another false dawn.
I for one hope it works :drinks:

 

[Ray Finkle]

Wow, didn't see that one coming at all

Definitely happy but with more than a hint of caution.

Norwegian are a fantastic airline and for BHX they have the potential to be exactly what we need. My query is whether those currently in power at BHX have the ability to realise this potential and work with Norwegian to add more routes and hopefully, in the future, a base? Going on past history you'd have to say no, they are not up to the job.

This is a massive opportunity for BHX with a great airline that have the potential to bring in huge passenger numbers and give us the European network that we've desperately craved for so long, those responsible CANNOT be allowed to do what they normally do and nause things up!

The proof in the pudding will be twelve months from now and if we are seeing more growth and new routes being added I will be very, very, very happy indeed and give BHX all the credit they would deserve, however, going on past history, I'm not getting my hopes up just yet.

This CANNOT be allowed to join BHX's very long one season wonder list, it has to work at all costs.

As a great man once said "Rejoice, rejoice.....but do not relax".

 

[Brum X]

I have just logged on and nearly "fainted"

Oh my god, BHX is gonna give me grey hairs sooner than i want if this topsy turvy news continues.

As Ray has said, how funny how the mood has changed soooo quick after yesterday "dismal" news.

Gotta say this has just put a "massive" smile on my face and must of been what Mr Kehoe said in his email to me. "Look out for some more good news in the future hopefully"


This may also make other airlines at BHX cough cough sit up and take BHX more seriously too, however this is still BHX and it can all come crashing down very quickly.

Our future may not be indeed with the likes of Easyjet or Ryanair, it could actually be with airlines like Norweigan and Vueling.

Now any more news on Flymaybe ?? Ive totally forgotten about them for the last 20 minuites.

 

[Ray Finkle]

BHX sure is a roller coaster isn't it?

I think we have to remember that this is only three routes from away bases, which is similar to what Easyjet have now and many got excited when they started. I so hope it works out though and we see more flights added from some of their other bases.

I was planning on a trip to Barcelona with Vueling next year but I think it might now be Madrid instead

The airport press release.

Birmingham Airport Welcomes Norwegian and Trio of Spanish Routes

Birmingham Airport and Europe’s third largest low-fare airline, Norwegian, have announced that flights will commence to Madrid, Barcelona and Malaga from Birmingham next summer.

Norwegian will offer regular services to the trio of Spanish routes, with Madrid becoming a brand new destination from Birmingham.

Madrid will commence on the 31st March and will operate each Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Malaga will commence on the 30th March and will operate every Monday, Friday and Saturday, and Barcelona will start on the 1st June and fly each Monday and Friday.

Paul Kehoe, Chief Executive of Birmingham Airport said, “We are very pleased to be able to announce this new airline and offer more new routes from Birmingham, and I thank Norwegian for choosing to launch Birmingham to these popular Spanish destinations.

“Although Norwegian is new to the Midlands market, I am certain that consumers – both business and leisure - will be impressed with the carrier’s low fares and efficient service, which has allowed them to grow to carry more than 20 million passengers a year. We are therefore very pleased to be welcoming Norwegian to Birmingham next summer.”

Norwegian will operate a 186 seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with a one service cabin and free wi-fi.

Chief Commercial Officer, Thomas Ramdahl of Norwegian, added, “We’re happy to announce that Norwegian is launching new routes from Birmingham to several destinations in Spain.

“We are looking forward to offering our low fares and award-winning service to travellers in the greater Birmingham area and welcoming them on board our brand new and more environmentally friendly fleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft with free WiFi.”

Tickets are available through http://www.norwegian.com or through travel agents.

Norwegian employs approximately 4500 people and operates 416 routes to 126 destinations in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Thailand and the US.

http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/meta ... egian.aspx

 

[Ray Finkle]

Madrid operates on Tue, Thur and Sun arriving BHX at 10:20 and departing back to Madrid at 10:50.

Malaga operates Mon, Fri and Sat arriving at BHX 17:45 and depart back at 18:25 on Mon and Fri and arriving BHX at 09:45 and departing 10:25 on Sat.

Barcelona operates Mon and Fri arriving BHX at 10:15 and departing again at 10:50.

 

[thunderchild]

Dec 11 start for Malaga was obviously a mistake - it did strike me as a bit strange! Funnily enough when I was reading about Flybe yesterday I did find myself thinking about Norwegian! I agree though that we should just see how it goes before we start getting carried away and talking about bases and long haul.

 

[Brum X]

Dec 11 start for Malaga was obviously a mistake - it did strike me as a bit strange! Funnily enough when I was reading about Flybe yesterday I did find myself thinking about Norwegian! I agree though that we should just see how it goes before we start getting carried away and talking about bases and long haul.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh i forgot out those lovely new shiny 787s

 

[justplanecrazy]

Now I know it will no doubt never happen but don't you think Norwegian and the 787 would be perfect for filling those missing/under served long haul leisure routes like Orlando and Las Vegas?

 

[Ray Finkle]

I didn't want to say anything as it's very, very, very early days but when it was first announced I had visions of a 787 doing Orlando, Las Vegas, Cuba etc.

Well we can dream.

 

[User0001]

Lets not run before we can walk.

8 weekly flights to 3 destinations is a start, but, we need to give Norwegian time to work out what they intend BHX to be.

Lets not forget, this is a Norwegian airline opening a new UK airport to points in Spain, so we need to see if the market is ready to accept this (lets not forget BHX-WAW that they served without success.

I hope it does come off for BHX, but, lets give them a chance first.

 

[Brum X]

Just been on Norweigian Facebook page and somebody asked them any plans to have a LPL or MAN base anytime soon ??

The Answer from Norweigian was "Growing London Gatwick and Birmingham for the moment"


Mmmmmmmmmm now i know BHX is not a base at present but im getting a feeling there is lots of stuff being done behind the scenes on this one.

 

[Ray Finkle]

Sounds promising, I really hope there are some talks happening and plans being made, god knows BHX needs it.

With so many unserved and underserved Euro routes I reckon there is potentially a big opportunity for them at BHX, if it's done properly. The biggest issue is the fact that they are relatively unknown in the Greater Birmingham area, this is where the airport come in and I expect Norwegian to be promoted very heavily in the new year.

I don't use Facebook but if anyone does maybe they could ask if there are any more routes planned ex BHX?

Out of interest Norwegian currently operate 85 737-800's with 47 more ordered and 6 options. They also have 100 A320-NEO's on order, due 2016, with 50 more options and 100 737-MAX 8 on order, due 2017, with another 100 options.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_ ... Haul_Fleet

 

[Brum X]

Latest addition to Norweigan Fleet.

Just arrived from Seattle.

 

[Ray Finkle]

A poster on another forum who appears to be fairly well informed about such things has suggested there is more to come for BHX.

TFS and LPA announced for winter 15/16.

More Med routes, higher frequencies and Scandinavia introduced in 2016.

Long haul routes when LGW gets 787-900's to replace the 800-s, subject to approval from the US authorities.

Amazing news if true.

 

[User0001]

While i dont rule out further expansion, said poster had promised MAN base and expansion for at least 2 years, with no sign.

They also knew nothing about the BHX routes in advance of them opening, so, i dont think they are in the know as much as they like to make out.

 

[andrew.clarkson]

Hi there ray and all, let's hope that with norweign airshuttle three new routes of Barcelona, Malaga and Madrid, let's hope that all these three new routes are successful throughout the coming year, and that Norweign airshuttle then start to add further routes to Spain, like seville, bilbao, zaragoza, alicante, valencia, plus a few more, then possibly try the United States with Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington dc, phoenix.. Andyc

 

[Brummiegem]

With the exception of CPH no Scandinavian routes seem to do well from BHX.
In fact CPH has taken a good number of years to really become established and for the route to have more capacity added.
I would imagine that adding Oslo and perhaps Stockholm maybe 2/3 times a week might just be in the thinking of Norwegians route development people.
My fear would be if NOS became successful then we may lose SAS,which would be a shame as they have at least stuck at it and now seem to be getting somewhere.

 

[Ray Finkle]

I think Oslo is a given as it allows pax to transfer onto their entire network. I could also see Stockholm at 3/4 times weekly and possibly even Gothenburg 2/3 times weekly but if BHX is to have more expansion I'd imagine the tried and tested sun routes would come first to establish the base.

Hi there ray and all, let's hope that with norweign airshuttle three new routes of Barcelona, Malaga and Madrid, let's hope that all these three new routes are successful throughout the coming year, and that Norweign airshuttle then start to add further routes to Spain, like seville, bilbao, zaragoza, alicante, valencia, plus a few more, then possibly try the United States with Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Washington dc, phoenix.. Andyc

Wow, quite a list. I think it's going to take a while to build up the Norwegian name in the area as they are pretty much an unknown brand in this part of the world. As said I'd expect the usual sun and city break routes to come well before the likes of Zaragoza and Seville. As for long haul, well if, and it's a very big if, we get some I'd expect MCO to come first with possibly Bangkok and/or New York where they already have a presence. The only other one I could see from that list as an outside chance is possibly a West Coast destination such as LAX or OAK.

It's all a very long, long way off though and nothing will happen if these initial routes don't do well.