$69 flights from U.S. to Europe coming soon, Norwegian Air CEO says

These plans are part of Norwegian’s broader move to reduce fares and take share from traditional flag carriers that dominate trans-Atlantic flying

Norwegian Air Shuttle hopes to start selling one-way tickets to Europe for $69 in 2017 by flying from U.S. airports that have low fees, Chief Executive Officer Bjørn Kjos said in an interview.

The third largest budget airline in Europe is considering to include in their destinations 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 flights are likely to be about $300 for a round trip ticket, Kjos said, compared with many of Norwegian’s fares that run more than $500 today due to higher fees levied by busier airports.

These plans are part of Norwegian’s broader move to reduce fares and take share from traditional flag carriers that dominate trans-Atlantic flying.
While other airlines such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG has flights to hundreds of destinations with connections in airport hubs, Norwegian is aiming to make nonstop flights to small cities on the other side of the Atlantic, which keeps costs low.

“I think you will see a lot to that effect within five years’ time,” Kjos said. “What will happen to (Lufthansa) when everyone starts to fly direct?”.

Regulators will have to agree to set up customs stations at U.S. regional airports to handle international traffic, although Kjos said he is confident this can be arranged.

Norwegian is not the only airline to market cheap fares across the Atlantic, as Reuters stresses. Iceland’s Wow Air recently offered one-way tickets between Boston and Paris for $99.