New figures from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey indicate that Norwegian has the edge over BA in terms of passenger traffic on trans-Atlantic services operating into and out of NYC. Norwegian was bullish in its comments while BA reconfirmed its commitments to the trans-Atlantic market.
According to British Airways (BA) in terms of overall passenger figures to become the largest non-American carrier of trans-Atlantic services operating into and out of NYC.
Reuters reports that, in the year ending July 2018, Norwegian handled a total of 1.67 million passengers moving into or out of airports within the NYC metropolitan area. These facilities include John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
During the same period, data from the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey showed that BA handled 1.63 million passengers.
Norwegian’s success comes just after an attempt by BA to purchase the low-cost carrier earlier this year. In recent years it – along with other low-cost competitors such as Wow Air – have made stiff competition for the conventional incumbents within the trans-Atlantic market.
Commenting on this shake-up of the trans-Atlantic flight market, a spokesperson for Norwegian was bullish in outlook, saying, “Fares have been too high for too long as transatlantic routes have been long dominated by carriers with outdated legacies running on fumes.”
“Norwegian will continue to spread its wings to the Big Apple with a third-daily service between London and New York JFK from 28 October,” the spokesperson added.
Offering comments on behalf of the carrier, a spokesperson for BA said, “Our commitment to New York is as strong as ever. We fly up to 70 times a week from all three of our London airports, and we recently announced a $65 million (49.7 million pounds) investment on new lounges, improved food, seating and shops at JFK Terminal 7.”
