Norwegian Air Shuttle to launch long haul services with… A340’s.

An unanticipated falllout of the 787 battery issue is the case of Norwegian Air Shuttle who have been due to launch a new services operated by their 787’s from May.

As the 787’s are still not certified for flight, it i has meant that Norwegian have had to go shopping for capacity. In the narrowbody airlplane market, it’s not difficult to russletl up planes in a hurry – however Widebody jets can be more troublesome as these form the backbone of long haul fleets.

Two Airbus A340-300’s will deputise for the missing 787’s, which will be wet leased from Hi-Fly of Portugal who happen to have two A340-300’s entering their fleet.

The Airbus A340’s have been leased until August, and are ex-Emirates and ex-Singapore Airlines Aircraft.

It is therefore expected that the  long haul services Norwegian will be operating will commence:

• Oslo to New York JFK – 30th May
• Stockholm to New York JFK –  31st May
• Oslo-Bangkok – 1st June
• Stockholm-Bangkok –  June 20

Whilst the destinations seem to outnumber aircraft, frequency is low at 2-3 flights per week on each route.

In terms of seating, passengers who are booked in:

• “Premium Economy” will be seated in Business Class with 61″ Seat in 2-2-2 seating
• “Economy” will be the standard 2-4-2 in 31″.

This compares very well over the Boeing 787’s which are due to be confirmed as:

• Premium Economy – 2-3-2 with 46″ Seat Pitch
• Economy 3-3-3 with 31″ Seat Pitch

Those of you who want to switch from the A340 flights to a 787 flight (when they are cleared for flight), can do do, but must contact Norwegian Air Shuttle and do it by the end of April.