Norse Atlantic Airways is trying some new routes for Summer 2023, with the airline announcing it is intending to start a route between Rome and New York.
Norse Atlantic Airways Boeing 787-9 – Image, Norse Atlantic Airways
The move will mark the fifth European connection to New York by the airline. The route is planned to start on the 19th of June from Rome.
Timings, however, are more than a little brutal. The planned operation is as shown below.
DEPART FCO 19:30 ARRIVE JFK 23:00 DEPART JFK 01:00 ARRIVE FCO 15:45 Commences 19th June Operates Daily Booked Equipment: Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Lead-in fares have been announced by the airline, with Economy Light fares from Rome to New York starting at €239 one way including taxes and €550 in Premium Light. The airline operates the Boeing 787 family exclusively, with them featuring two classes of seating, with three fare options for those seats.
In Quotes
Bjorn Tore Larsen, CEO of Norse Atlantic Airways, said:
“We are very pleased to announce Rome as our fifth capital city in Europe offering a direct Norse Atlantic Airways flight to New York JFK. Customers on both sides of the Atlantic will be able to enjoy value, excellent onboard service and comfort while travelling between these two culturally vibrant and exciting cities. The addition of Rome to our network will provide another gateway to Europe and strengthen our presence in New York”
Ivan Bassato, Chief Aviation Officer of Aeroporti di Roma added:
“We are pleased to welcome Norse Atlantic Airways to Rome Fiumicino”
“This new direct flight to New York JFK will complete the overall offering between the two cities with an outbound evening service which will enrich our customers’ travel options. By choosing Rome FCO, Norse Atlantic Airways is another new airline that has recognised the operational excellence of our airport and the great attractiveness of our market.”
Timings don’t help, nor will the competition.
The Rome-Fiumicino to New York route has a reasonable amount of competition already, with American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, ITA Airways and United Airlines serving the area. Norse appears to be the upstart here to disrupt the order.
However, the timings remain brutal. Whilst they allow for a full day of business in Rome, getting into New York by 11 pm (and probably through the other side of immigration and luggage collection before midnight will be a challenge.
And from there – you’ve got to make it to wherever you need to be – be downtown Manhatten or a hotel near the airport (be it using public transport, Uber/Lyft or a Yellow taxi).
Similarly, the 1 am departure from New York means that whilst you get a full day in the city, it’s a long wait to board and wait for departure – to find most of the day has gone when you’ve landed (along with the jetlag to boot).
I wish Norse luck on this route – but the timings make it hard for me to consider unless saving every penny was on the table. And even then, I’d still consider other options that could get me to the Big Apple a lot earlier in the day.
Editors note: I’m mostly on the chase, rather than break cycle at the moment. Hopefully, we should have hit a reset point by the weekend…
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The late departures work perfectly for me. I can work a full day in New York, miss the worst traffic, and still make it to the airport to catch the flight to Rome, and then get most of the day in Rome before having to head home. I think New Yorkers will really like this . . . and for many years AZ had a FCO-JFK that left Rome at 5:45p.m. which was really popular.
Fares are generally much higher JFK to FCO than MXP and hopefully this will bring them down.