Norwegian eyes transatlantic ops with A321LRs in 2019

Norwegian is considering deploying A321LRs on transatlantic routes out of new European gateways, including Berlin Schönefeld, Budapest, Brussels National, and Prague, Chief Commercial Officer Thomas Ramdahl has told FlightGlobal.
"You will see more A321LR routes coming in to medium-size airports in the USA, connecting to different capitals in Europe. We will be looking at the Washington area. I think it will be an A321LR destination," Ramdahl has said. The carrier will be considering either Baltimore Thurgood Marshall or Washington Dulles airport in the DC area.
He added that thanks to its longer range, the A321LR can serve more markets than the B737 MAX 8, of which Norwegian currently operates six through its Irish subsidiary Norwegian Air International. It also is more flexible than the larger B787-8s.
The A321LR, the newest addition to the A320neo Family, completed its maiden flight at the end of January 2018. Norwegian ordered thirty aircraft of the type from Airbus and expects the delivery of the first eight in 2019.
Other carriers, including Aer Lingus and Primera Air Scandinavia, are planning to deploy A321LRs on transatlantic routes. jetBlue Airways is also mulling ordering the type for this purpose.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Norwegian currently operates transatlantic flights out of Barcelona El Prat, Belfast Int'l, Bergen, Copenhagen Kastrup, Cork, Dublin Int'l, Edinburgh, London Gatwick, Oslo Gardermoen, Paris CDG, Rome Fiumicino, Shannon, and Stockholm Arlanda. Later this year, the carrier plans to add Amsterdam, Madrid Barajas, Milan Malpensa, and Paris Orly to its transatlantic network.
Berlin Schönefeld, to which Norwegian currently operates European flights, does not see any services to North America, while Berlin Tegel is connected to New York JFK (by each of Delta Air Lines and Lufthansa), Newark (by United Airlines), and seasonally to Toronto Pearson (by Air Canada rouge).

For its part, Brussels is connected to Newark, Washington Dulles, New York JFK, Montréal Trudeau, Chicago O'Hare, Toronto Pearson, and Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson. Budapest currently sees no scheduled direct transatlantic routes, but is set to receive LOT Polish Airlines' services to each of New York JFK and Chicago O'Hare, as well as American Airlines' route to Philadelphia Int'l later this year. Finally, Prague only sees summer seasonal services to Philadelphia Int'l, Toronto Pearson, New York JFK, and Montreal.
ch aviation