Norwegian Air Shuttle has surpassed British Airways as the biggest non-U.S. airline on transatlantic flights to and from New York, Reuters reports.
It has been reported that Norwegian Air Shuttle took 1.67 million flyers to or from airports around New York. This figure is just above that of British Airways, which comes in at 1.63 million passengers. Indeed, Norwegian Air Shuttle has surpassed British Airways in the year long period from July 2017 to July 2018.
Over the last five years, Norwegian Air Shuttle has rapidly expanded in the transatlantic market.
In fact, the owner of British Airways was prompted to buy the company earlier this year.
The data has emerged from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Additionally, four U.S airlines are the largest to fly international passengers out of New York. The New York airports include John F. Kennedy International, Newark Liberty International and LaGuardia.
But, the biggest non-U.S. flyer of international passengers is Air Canada. The majority of these flights are, however, between the US and Canada.
As for Europe’s long haul flight market, new contenders have disrupted the market. Norwegian Air Shuttle and Wow Air are just a few companies revolutionising low-cost long haul travel.
A British Airways spokeswoman commented:
“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,”
“We recently announced a $55 million (£49.7 million) investment on new lounges, improved food, seating and shops at JFK Terminal 7”.
Moreover, a spokesman from Norwegian Air Shuttle said:
“Transatlantic routes have been long dominated by carriers with outdated legacies running on fumes,”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”.
Last month, British Airways reported that its customer data had been stolen.
At 12:26 GMT +1 today, shares in British Airways Owner IAG (LON:IAG) were trading at +0.23%.
At 16:00 GMT -4 yesterday, shares in Norwegian Air Shuttle (OTCMKTS:NWARF) were trading at -4.24%
