Norwegian Air to grow U.S. flights with Caribbean service
By Jeffrey Dastin
(Reuters) - Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA on Thursday announced flights between the United States and two islands in the French Caribbean, hinting that more routes and heightened competition with U.S. carriers are to come.
Beginning in December, Norwegian will fly from three U.S. cities to Guadeloupe and Martinique, overseas departments of France. Bilateral agreement allows Norwegian to fly between the United States and any point in European Union territory.
While American Airlines Group Inc is the only major U.S. airline that now serves the islands, with direct flights from Miami, U.S. carriers dominate U.S.-Caribbean travel broadly and may view the routes as an incursion by Norwegian.
The Oslo-based airline plans to serve the islands from New York three times per week on Boeing Co 737-800 aircraft. It plans to fly there on the same aircraft type twice per week from Boston and Baltimore, where it operates no other flights, unlike in New York.
Adding flights between Europe and those two cities is "definitely on our list" to do, Chief Executive Officer Bjoern Kjos said in an interview.
Norwegian has expanded rapidly with the addition of long-haul flights in 2013, making it the only budget carrier to fly between Europe and the United States. It also wants to add U.S. flights under an Irish subsidiary, but the U.S. Department of Transportation has not approved or denied its application since it was filed more than a year ago.
U.S. airlines and unions have charged that the subsidiary would undermine wages and working standards. Norwegian has dismissed claims about labor unfairness, noting that it is unconcerned if workers unionize and saying U.S. airlines simply fear Norwegian's low fares.
Travel agents and industry groups have said the feud is part of a two-front war U.S. airlines are waging against new competition. The U.S. carriers have said three Gulf airlines have received state subsidies in violation of bilateral aviation agreements.
Norwegian has vowed to fly more to the United States under its parent operation if its Irish subsidiary is blocked.
Seasonal service to Guadeloupe and Martinique make sense for Norwegian so it can use aircraft it would otherwise ground in Europe because schedules slow in the winter, Kjos said.
"We anticipate that there is a market from these islands into the U.S," he said. "You have to take into consideration that the dollar is very strong against the Euro, so it's cheap to go to these islands now."
(Reporting by Jeffrey Dastin in New York)
