Norwegian has said that following other European carriers, the airline will begin to operate flights between London Gatwick to Oslo, London Gatwick to Copenhagen, Edinburgh to Oslo and Edinburgh to Copenhagen from July 1.
The services from London to Oslo will be operated seven times a week, London to Copenhagen six times a week, and Edinburgh to Oslo and Copenhagen twice a week respectively.
Jacob Schram, Norwegian CEO said: ‘Feedback from our customers has shown that they are keen to get back in the air and resume their travels with Norwegian beyond the current domestic services that we have been operating. Norwegian is returning to European skies with the reintroduction of more aircraft to serve our key destinations which will ensure that we remain in line with competing carriers.
‘Safety remains our top priority and we have introduced a number of specific measures to further reduce the already low risk of infection on board.’
Stewart Wingate, Gatwick CEO, said: ‘The restart of regular Norwegian services from Gatwick is very welcome news and reflects the strength of the relationship and success the airline has had at Gatwick in recent years, as well as the fact that consumer demand is picking up as more people want to start flying again.
‘The wellbeing and safety of passengers and staff remains Gatwick’s top priority and – combined with the health measures announced by Norwegian -today’s news demonstrates that we are starting to see small green shoots of recovery.’
Since April Norwegian has only operated eight aircraft on domestic routes in Norway. From July Norwegian will operate 76 routes across Europe from the airline’s Scandinavian hubs compared to the 13 domestic Norway only flights served today. Other destinations include Spain, Greece and key European cities. Further destinations and frequency increases will be announced in due course subject to passenger demand and government travel restrictions, it said.
The airline has introduced new protective safety measures to minimise the risk of infection onboard its aircraft, including: compulsory facemask for travellers who are six years and older, as recommended by the European aviation authorities; maintaining physical distance during boarding and deboarding; minimise queuing in the cabin with hand luggages placed under the seat in front; seating passengers with as much distance as possible, while mid row seats will be the last to be occupied; no onboard catering so as to minimise the contact between customers and crew, as well as thorough disinfection of the aircraft.
