About 40 years ago, Icelandic Airlines was running a program of very cheap flights from New York to Amsterdam with a stop in Reykjavik, Iceland (actually, the airport was at Keflavík, about 30 miles away). Now it looks like Norwegian Air may be taking up this torch and running with it - from Reuters:
Norwegian Air CEO says $69 flights from U.S. to Europe around the corner
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA hopes to sell one-way tickets to Europe for $69 as early as 2017 by flying from U.S. airports that have low fees, Chief Executive Officer Bjørn Kjos said in an interview Tuesday.
Europe's third-largest budget airline is considering flights to Edinburgh and Bergen, Norway from U.S. airports that have little to no international service today, such as New York's Westchester County Airport and Connecticut's Bradley International Airport, just north of Hartford, Kjos said.
Average prices on such routes are likely to be closer to $300 round trip, Kjos said, compared with many of Norwegian's fares that run more than $500 today because of higher fees levied by busier airports.
The potential plans are part of Norwegian's broader move to cut prices and take share from traditional flag carriers that dominate trans-Atlantic flying.
While airlines such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG offer travelers hundreds of destinations via connections in airport hubs, Norwegian is aiming to make nonstop service to small cities that straddle the Atlantic more common, which keeps costs low.
Hmmm. I do not care where I fly out of - in fact, the smaller the better - less hassle. Landing in Edinburgh does not suck either. I bet Bergen is gorgeous as well.
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