Passengers will be able to fly directly to New York for less than £60 from next summer as budget carrier Norwegian steps up competition for transatlantic passengers.
The low-cost airline plans to take on some of the major carriers including British Airways by introducing fares from as little as £56 on new routes from Edinburgh, Scotland, and from Cork and Shannon in Ireland.
Norwegian said it could offer the cut-price fares by using more fuel-efficient aircraft, and by flying to New York’s secondary airports, where fees are lower.
A spokesman said: “We are working on plans for new transatlantic routes from Edinburgh and Ireland which we expect to launch in 2017, and a key part of our plans are to make sure they are truly affordable, allowing as many people as possible to fly.
“A number of airports are being looked at while we finalise our plans but smaller airports in the US present us with an opportunity to offer some ground-breaking fares to passengers in the UK, Ireland and the US.”
The airline flies daily from London Gatwick to New York’s John F Kennedy airport, with prices starting at £149. From early 2017 it plans to double the number of flights on the route from once a day to twice a day.
It also flies from Gatwick to Boston, Los Angeles, San-Francisco-Oakland, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Las Vegas and Puerto Rico, with one-way fares from £135.
Norwegian plans to publish full details of its new routes and fares early in the new year.
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