Low-cost flights to South America, Asia and Africa on the horizon for UK travellers
Direct low-cost flights to five continents could soon be a reality for British travellers under the ambitious plans of two of Europe’s fastest growing no-frills airlines.
Norwegian, whose rapid long-haul expansion means it already flies from the UK to 10 destinations in North America and the Caribbean, with four more to come this summer, recently launched an Argentinian subsidiary, opening up the possibility of affordable flights from Europe to cities such as Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Mendoza by the end of 2017. Now WOW Air, its Icelandic rival, has said it wants to launch flights - as soon as 2018, and possibly from London - to destinations in South America, Africa and Asia.
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WOW currently serves seven North American cities, including LA, Boston, New York, San Francisco and Montreal, with flights to Miami (from April 5) and Pittsburgh (from June 17) to come. But Britons hoping to take advantage of its low transatlantic prices - with sales sometimes pushing fares below £100 one-way - must currently go via Reykjavik. That could all change next year with the launch of WOW’s second long-haul base. While the airline’s founder Skúli Mogensen would not confirm the location of that base ahead of an official announcement in the summer, he said London was - for obvious reasons - in the running. “We’re still in negotiation with two cities,” he told Telegraph Travel. “We’ll start direct flights from the new base in 2018 to North America and other destinations.” Asked whether that might include cities in South America, Asia or Africa, he answered: “All of the above”.
Driving the fevered expansion of both WOW and Norwegian is the imminent arrival of new high-tech and fuel-efficient aircraft. Norwegian uses Boeing 787 Dreamliners for its long-haul flights and is waiting for 19 units of the newest 787-9 variant to be delivered. It has also ordered 30 of Airbus’s new A321neoLR (Long Range), with the first likely to arrive in 2019. WOW, whose fleet is already among the youngest in the world, has submitted orders for both the A320neo, introduced last year, and the A321neoLR.
“There is a great opportunity at the moment with the arrival of these new aircraft - the A320neo, the A321neoLR, the A330neo [which will make its inaugural flight this spring] - the timing is perfect for us to expand,” said Mogensen. He said he expects other low-cost rivals besides Norwegian to take advantage, including Eurowings - the no-frills arm of Lufthansa. Eurowings currently flies from Germany to destinations in Cuba, Thailand and the US.
“The real winner will be the consumer,” added Mogensen. “Fares will fall, there will be better aircraft with more innovative technology.”
In addition to its transatlantic services, Norwegian offers flights to Dubai and Bangkok from its bases in Scandinavia. It would not confirm whether direct flights from the UK to South America were part of its plans, nor which other global destinations it has its sights set on, but said: “As an ambitious airline with a huge aircraft order, we have made no secret of our plans to expand our operation to other parts of the world, including the South American market which is characterised by little competition and high prices. As part of this we can confirm that a new company, Norwegian Air Argentina, has been established to allow us to explore opportunities to enter the Argentinean market, though this is at a very early stage and no routes are confirmed at present.”
It added that it was currently focused on launching transatlantic flights from Scotland and Ireland, “including the potential for never before seen fares from Edinburgh to the USA”. New long-haul routes from Gatwick, including a first non-US route, will be announced before the summer, it added.
Also returning to the picture could be Air Asia X. The low-cost subsidiary of Air Asia briefly flew from Europe to the Far East, and has stated its desire to relaunch services by 2018. “While waiting for the delivery of A330neos in 2018, AirAsia X is exploring the possibility to operate another type of aircraft to enable it to commence London and Europe routes earlier,” a spokesman added this week.
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One airline not taking advantage - directly, at least - of the glut of new long-haul aircraft is Ryanair. Its chief executive Michael O’Leary has repeatedly refused to shut the door on the possibility of entering the transatlantic market. But with a spokesman admitting that it was “solely focused on European growth”, it seems safe to say that those “£10 fares to the US” can finally be shelved. He added: “We are speaking to a number of airlines concerning feeding their long-haul flights, and we are in advanced talks with Aer Lingus and Norwegian.”
