Norwegian Air to Launch Flights from U.S. to Rome for $189

Norwegian Air says it will begin flying nonstop to Rome's Fiumicino Airport from U.S. cities on both coasts later this year, with its trademark come on fares—the first flights will launch from Newark Airport on November 9 with introductory ticket prices of $189 one-way.

That will be followed by nonstops to Rome from Los Angeles on November 11, and from the Bay Area out of Oakland’s airport in early February 2018. One-way fares from the West Coast will start at $229 one-way. Frequencies vary: From Newark, service will start at four flights a week, rising to six times a week in February, and from both West Coast gateways it will start at twice-weekly, rising to three times a week from L.A. in February.

Rome has always been on the table. It’s definitely one of the most important tourist destinations.

All flights will be via Boeing 787 Dreamliners, energy-efficient widebodies that help keep costs down, and also offer a more pleasant ride. The plane also has bargain-priced premium cabin—and when the flights to Italy start in the fall, fares in that higher class will start at $539 one-way from Newark and $719 one-way from L.A. and Oakland.

The new routes to Italy are just the latest installment in the saga of the startup’s rapid ascent to become of the biggest—and certainly fastest-growing—low-cost carriers in the world. (Norwegian, like most budget lines, charges extra for things like seat assignments, bags, and meals.) And for Norwegian, Rome was an obvious choice, coming on the heels of its plan to start flying to Barcelona, also from both the East and West Coast.

“Rome has always been on the table,” Thomas Ramdahl, Norwegian’s Chief Commercial Officer, tells Traveler. “It’s definitely one of the most important tourist destinations.” Asked about the timing, in light of Alitalia’s much publicized financial woes, Ramdahl says that didn’t factor into the decision to enter that market, which he said had been made well before the Italian flag carrier declared bankruptcy.

It’s getting hard to keep track of Norwegian Air’s vertiginous rise without a scorecard—but here’s what it’s got on its plate for this year alone, according to Ramdahl:

• It will launch 25 new routes out of the U.S. in 2017, which when complete, will give Norwegian a total of 58 routes out of the U.S., of which 52 are transatlantic. Rome is its 13th European destination out of the U.S., and the carrier claims it will soon offer the most transatlantic routes of a single airline out of the U.S., overtaking U.S. rivals.
• This winter, Norwegian will resume its seasonal flights from the U.S. East Coast to Guadeloupe and Martinique, but it will be moving its Boston-French Caribbean service—to Providence, Rhode Island.
• Norwegian’s new Irish subsidiary, which won final clearance from the U.S. to offer transatlantic flights last year, will launch flightsin June and July to Edinburgh, Scotland; and Dublin, Cork, Belfast, and Shannon, from New York’s Stewart Airport; Hartford, Connecticut; and Providence. Flights on these niche routes will be aboard the single-aisle 737 Max, a new, more efficient version of the plane— which is more normally associated with domestic service.
• The carrier’s main long-distance services, operated by Oslo-based Norwegian Air Shuttle, will also expand this summer, with new flights from New York’s JFK and Newark airports to cities like Barcelona, and added frequencies to existing markets like London Gatwick from additional U.S. points.