Tag: London (Page 13 of 13)

British Airways Loses New York Crown To Norwegian

October 8, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON (Reuters) – Norwegian Air Shuttle (NWC.OL) has overtaken British Airways as the biggest non-U.S. airline on transatlantic routes to and from the New York area, in the latest illustration of the low cost carrier’s move into British Airways territory.

Norwegian carried 1.67 million passengers to or from airports in the New York area in the 12 months to the end of July, compared with the 1.63 million carried by British Airways, data from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey showed.

No-frills carrier Norwegian has been rapidly expanding in the transatlantic market over the last five years, prompting the owner of British Airways, IAG (ICAG.L), to try to buy it earlier this year.

The data showed four U.S. airlines, led by United, are the biggest carriers of international passengers out of the main airports in the New York area, which include John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International.

Air Canada is the biggest non-U.S. carrier of international passengers, but its dominance is on travel between the United States and Canada.

Norwegian, and other relatively recent entrants to the market such as Wow Air, have led a charge to shake up Europe’s long-haul flight market, offering ticket prices that can be as little as half those charged by traditional carriers.

The traditional airlines have responded by selling a new budget class of ticket, as well as setting up, in IAG’s case, new airline Level to compete directly with Norwegian on price.

Lufthansa has also started budget long-haul flights using its Eurowings brand.

Norwegian said in May it had rejected two approaches from IAG, which also owns the Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling brands, because they undervalued the company. IAG owns a 4.6 percent stake in Norwegian.

The pace of Norwegian’s growth – figures from July 2017 show it only carried 750,000 passengers into and out of the New York region – has weighed on its finances and it faces mounting pressure to control costs and shore up its balance sheet.

British Airways did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the figures.

(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Mark Potter)

Post Malone On Plane Attempting Emergency Landing

August 21, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

A Gulfstream IV that is reportedly carrying the rapper Post Malone, has been circling the greater New York City-area for nearly four hours to attempt to make an emergency landing. The aircraft reported the emergency after blowing out two tires during its takeoff on Tuesday morning. TMZ reports that the famed rapper is on board the aircraft after spending Monday night at the MTV Video Music Awards, where he won an award for song of the year for his hit song “Rockstar.”

The jet is believed to be carrying 16 people, and departed around 11 a.m. from Teterboro Airport in New jersey, just outside of New York City. The pilot reported a problem following its take-off from runway 24 at Teterboro. The aircraft was enroute to London’s Luton Airport.

The pilot initially was going to attempt the emergency landing back at Teterboro, before the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the airport, re-routed the aircraft to Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport in Massachusetts. The FAA later reported that the plane has now been diverted to Stewart Airport, just north of New York City.

The aircraft has been circling to try and burn off most of its 3,700 gallons of fuel before attempting the emergency landing.

Norwegian Air plans new routes from London to South America

February 13, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON (Reuters) – Norwegian Air (NWC.OL) plans to serve new destinations in South America from London, prompted by strong demand for flights to Buenos Aires which begin this week as it ramps up its budget operation on long-haul routes.

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Norwegian Air to South America

London Luton Airport sets new January traffic record

February 13, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

London Luton Airport has started the new year like it ended the last, with record traffic figures, as it handled over one million passengers in January for the first time in its history.

In total, 1,021,954 passengers (+3.6%) passed through the gateway in January to ensure that it has welcomed over one million passengers every month for 12 consecutive months.

Airport CEO, Nick Barton, says: “Last year was another record breaker at LLA, and we look forward to welcoming even more passengers as we enter our 80th year.

“Throughout 2018, passengers will see the airport transformed as we officially open our new terminal and reach the first phase of construction for the Mass Passenger Transit system, which will replace the current shuttle bus and create a rapid link between the train station and the terminal.

“However, this is only part of the solution to better public transport links and is why we continue to call on the government for four fast trains per hour between central London and Luton Airport Parkway.”

The newly expanded terminal will add eight new boarding gates and a greater variety of shops and restaurants.

The airport notes that passengers will also benefit from an increased number of destinations served from LLA due to the launch of a number of new routes in 2018.

They include Wizz Air introducing eight new services to cities such as Athens, Larnaca, Keflavik and Bari; and new easyJet routes to Genoa, Reus and three other destinations.

This follows a significant expansion of LLA’s route network in 2017, which saw the addition of 22 new routes, meaning that passengers can now choose from more than 140 destinations across Europe, Asia and Africa.

Norwegian 787 Dreamliner fleet expanding, will add Las Vegas

May 25, 2016 / WIL BALDWIN

Norwegian 787 Dreamliner fleet will be expanding, airline to add flights between Las Vegas and London Gatwick Airport. Norwegian Airlines announced yesterday that it will lease two additional new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners from CIT Aerospace. The two additional Boeing 787-9 aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2018. The company is currently on track to have a fleet of 42 787 aircraft by 2020. The European discount airline also announced yesterday that it will be adding service between Las Vegas and London Gatwick Airport beginning this winter. The round trip flights will be flown by a Boeing 787-9 aircraft with the service operating on Monday’s and Thursday’s.

Watch Norwegian 787 takeoff from Barcelona Airport

Norwegian 787 Taxi & Takeoff

London City Airport future may be in doubt

February 11, 2016 / WIL BALDWIN

London City Airport has been booming the last few years. Located just to the east of the center of London, the airport that opened in the 1980’s has taken advantage of being located near the Docklands financial district. This puts corporate clients a mere 15 minutes away from the airport terminal. However, clouds are forming on the horizon against the airports future. A recent expansion plan was blocked, the airport is up for sale, and the largest air operator British Airways has threatened to cut all of its flights if a new owner raises costs. A city development program that proposed expanding the terminal to add additional capacity at the airport was passed. The Borough of Newham then approved the plan in January of 2015, but it was blocked the following February by London mayor Boris Johnson. On top of all this drama, the US based airport owner, Global Infrastructure Partners, put the property up for sale last summer for £2 billion ($2.9 billion). This caused British Airways to promptly announce that it would pull all its flights out of the airport if any new owner were to increase the costs of its operations. The airport has a short single runway of just 4327 foot for operations, and flights are limited to smaller regional propliners and jets due to its length. British Airways does operate an all business class Airbus A318 from from the airport to New York City (JFK), and CityJet plans to add service using the Russian built Sukhoi SuperJet 100 aircraft it has on order.

London-City-Airport