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Norwegian Air to fly to Paris from three U.S. cities
Ben Mutzabaugh
Norwegian Air is again expanding its U.S. presence, announcing three new trans-Atlantic routes to Paris. The routes – from New York JFK, Los Angeles and Fort Lauderdale – will launch July 29 and will be on the airline's new Boeing 787 "Dreamliners."
Norwegian Air will kick off its new U.S.-Paris flights with a splashy introductory off-peak fares of $175 each way, taxes included. Fares for peak demand during summer months will cost about twice as much.
More importantly, the flights keep the European low-cost carrier on a rapid growth spurt in the United States. Paris will become the airline's sixth European destination from the USA, joining Copenhagen, London Gatwick, Oslo, Stockholm and the Norwegian city of Bergen. Norwegian also has begun flying from three U.S. airports to the Caribbean, launching nonstop flights to the French island territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique.
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Overall, Norwegian now flies numerous routes from eight destinations on the U.S. mainland as well as from two in the Caribbean: San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
"We are very excited for Paris," Bjorn Kjos, Norwegian's CEO and founder, says in an interview with Today in the Sky.
"It's a very interesting market for us." Kjos adds, noting that the city is among the world's most-visited destinations. "It's very popular with the leisure market. That's what we are targeting."
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Kjos says Norwegian also expects its new Paris routes "will attract a lot of French people" to the airline's U.S. destinations.
Norwegian will offer four flights a week between New York and Paris and two a week from Los Angeles. Norwegian's Fort Lauderdale-Paris route will fly once a week.
In making its Paris announcement, Norwegian touted its rapidly expanding presence in the U.S.
Once the Paris flights begin, Norwegian says it will fly 38 different routes from U.S. airports – including more to Europe than any of its European rivals, according to the carrier. And Kjos says to expect more destinations to be added in the coming years.
"We've just tapped a few cities here," Kjos says. "But there are a lot of interesting cities" that could fit into the carrier's expanding U.S. route map.
Kjos also says Norwegian would continue looking at new destinations in Europe for direct flights to the USA.
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He says Norwegian would seek "to use the main tourist destinations."
"These are high up on our list," Kjos says. "Barcelona, Rome, a couple others. These are the main destinations in Europe for the leisure market."
Norwegian's new U.S.-Paris flights also will mark the discount carrier's debut at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport. Norwegian already flies five Scandinavian routes from Paris, but it operates those out of Paris' smaller Orly airport.
"But we did not get slots at Orly," Kjos says about Norwegian's decision to fly its new U.S. routes from Charles de Gaulle.
In the United States, Norwegian's destinations include Baltimore/Washington (BWI), Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Oakland and Orlando as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.