AIRCRAFT Transatlantic flights
less busy routes to the UK, mainland Europe and Scandinavia. More recently, American Airlines has emulated Continental with B757 services to various secondary airports. Passengers now had a choice. If they
wanted wide-body comfort then they flew from a major airport. But if they wanted to travel from their local airport then, by and large, they had to opt for a single-aisle product. Until now, leaving aside the specialised all-business class routes, that has largely been the case for regular flights. But the B757s are getting older (my first trip on this aircraft type was with BA on the London-Glasgow shuttle service back in 1983), and so Airbus and Boeing have long-haul versions of their popular twin- engined short-haul A321s and B737s ready to enter service in the coming years. Airbus is proposing the A321 Neo LR (“Neo” standing for “new engine option”, LR for long range). This can carry up to 240 passengers in a one-class layout on a long flight, although it would
30 NOVEMBER 2015
‘On these routes we couldn’t fill a wide- body but we could fill a B737 Max and still fly nonstop’
accommodate fewer passengers on a two-class transatlantic mission. Boeing has developed the B737 Max, which is yet another development of the aircraft that first entered service with Lufthansa in 1968. Seat capacity is about 200 but the actual number will depend on individual airline configurations. The B737 Max is now on the Boeing assembly line with service entry expected in 2017. Budget airline Norwegian has put in its order for a huge fleet of 100, which will enable it to operate between the UK, mainland Europe and US East Coast ports such as Boston, New York and Washington.
Interviewed on Danish site
business.dk, Norwegian chief executive Bjorn Kjos said that the B737 Max would open up new opportunities for routes to the US. “The Max planes are smaller than the B787 [wide-body] Dreamliner [the mainstay of Norwegian’s long-range fleet] but are still able to fly across the Atlantic,” he said. “This creates the opportunity to fly directly between smaller airports such as Aalborg [Denmark] and Bergen [Norway] to the US East Coast nonstop. On these routes we would never be able to fill a wide-body, but without any problems we can fill a narrow-body such as the Max and still fly nonstop.”
Norwegian has announced that some of its initial B737 flights (using either B737-800 or Max versions) will operate between Cork and Boston from May next year. Another route linking the Irish city with New York is planned for 2017. Additional sectors will be unveiled in due course.
Visit
businesstraveller.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150