Norwegian Air da Barcellona BCN verso San Francisco SFO.
Altre notizie, dopo quelle che vengono dal Medio Oriente (leggi qui), indicano di come Barcellona BCN possa, forse, in futuro, diventare una base operativa di prim’ordine per i voli verso il continente americano.
Siamo ancora nella fase delle congetture o poco più, ma Bjørk Kjos, fondatore e CEO di Norwegian, afferma che “tra due o tre anni potremmo offrire voli diretti tra Barcellona BCN e San Francisco SFO a meno di 200 euro a tratta”. Dalla base di BCN potrebbero poi aggiungersi altri voli verso il Nord America, mentre dalla base di Las Palmas de Gran Canaria LPA, che si trova 1351 miglia / 2175 km più a sud ovest di Barcellona, i voli potrebbero decollare alla volta dei Caraibi e del Brasile.
Se dovesse riuscire a portare a termine il progetto, Norwegian Long Haul DU può ulteriormente incrinare il delicato ma consolidato equilibrio delle tratte nordatlantiche; già opera voli diretti su New York JFK da Londra LGW, Oslo OSL, Stoccolma ARN e Copenhagen CPH. Il permesso concesso per i voli verso gli USA è temporaneo, ed è stato concesso dopo un primo rifiuto del Dipartimento dei Trasporti USA (leggi qui), la compagnia è ancora in attesa della licenza permanente.
Norwegian Long Haul DU è una compagnia aerea low-cost che, nonostante il nome e la nazionalità del suo fondatore, ha base fiscale in Irlanda mentre registra il personale in Thailandia, il tutto per ridurre i costi impositivi.
Norwegian does not fly into SFO. It uses Oakland International Airport (OAK), across the Bay.
Hello Wayne, thank you for pointing it out, but actually I was referring to a news that mention how, in 2/3 years time, DY could fly to SFO out of BCN. Futuristic how it sounds, it might be real … will see.
At the moment, Norwegian flies out of Oakland, which I expect is cheaper for them (and also easier to get a slot than at SFO). OAK is a smaller, more efficient airport than SFO (and also closer to my house). We flew Norwegian to Gardermoen in May and back from Arlanda in June.
How was the experience? Comfortable flights? Did it look like LCC or better?
The flight was surprisingly comfortable and the service adequate, given that we had not paid for any extras such as meals and drinks (we brought our own). Some of my Swedish relatives came to visit later in the summer, and had no complaints.
I presume by LCC you mean low-cost carrier. I would say that Norwegian was considerably more comfortable than US airlines I occasionally fly – far better than American Airlines, for example.
Hello Wayne, good for you!
I heard great news from Norwegian’s flyers, and I’m not surprised regarding the comparison with US airlines. Trans Atlantic competition is really strong and some actors simply seem not to get it.
For intercontinental travel, I would say Norwegian was far better than American (which I occasionally fly to South America). Norwegian’s seating was more spacious, and the in-cabin luggage storage more than ample.
By the way, I can read Italian (sort of) because of my fluent Spanish, less fluent Portuguese, and learning from the subtitles on Inspector Montalbano.
You’re making me eager to try Norwegian!
Inspector Montalbano is fantastic!!! And when in need there’s always Google Translator at the top of the post 😉
We also like La Piovra, Inspector Coliandro, and Commissario De Luca.
Wow! You’re an expert!
Here’s the legacy airlines’ next money-saving measure: http://tinyurl.com/mf6zylp
That’s a great idea! Coach passengers could practice holding their breath on short haul flights 😉