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Norwegian Air Plans Expansion In US Market

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Budget airline Norwegian Air Shuttle plans to set up bases in New York and Fort Lauderdale next year and will significantly increase services between the Nordics and the US as it receives more Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Norwegian, the first budget airline in recent years to offer transatlantic services, will fly to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orlando in addition to its routes to Fort Lauderdale and New York, chief executive Bjoern Kjos told a news conference on Tuesday.

Norwegian placed Europe’s biggest aircraft order last year, 222 planes from Boeing and Airbus. It has been one of Europe’s most successful carriers, taking market share from SAS and also moving outside its traditional Nordic market with bases in London and Spain.

It is also one of the most successful stocks on the Oslo bourse with its shares up 105 percent over the past 12 months.

Still, many analysts consider the stock undervalued as it is trading at 7.8 times its expected 2014 earnings, well below an average of around 10 for European peers.

Norwegian launched long-haul services earlier this year when it received the first of eight 787s, and it has recorded a 96 percent load factor on those flights.

The firm says it can operate long-haul flights 30 percent cheaper than traditional airlines, primarily because of the 787′s lower operating cost.

Aer Lingus long haul expansion including new services to San Francisco and Toronto

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Aer Lingus today announced significant expansion to its transatlantic route offering for 2014. In addition to its existing services to Boston, Chicago, New York and Orlando, the airline will commence year round direct service between Dublin and San Francisco from April, 2014 with five services per week being operated by Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft

Aer Lingus will also commence direct year-round service to Canada from April 2014. A daily direct Boeing B757 service between Dublin and Toronto will operate during the summer season, with up to four weekly services operating during the winter. Two Boeing B757 aircraft will be based in Shannon and will be used to deliver increased frequency on existing services to Boston and New York. Year-round connections from Shannon to the east-coast will be introduced. This expansion will directly support more than 200 new jobs.

In addition to direct access to San Francisco, Aer Lingus customers travelling from a number of UK and European cities via Dublin, will benefit from a wide choice of onwards connections to sixteen popular cities on the West Coast and beyond including Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Diego. The new San Francisco route also represents a business opportunity for Aer Lingus Cargo.

Aer Lingus customers travelling from over twenty UK and European cities via Dublin to Toronto, will also have the option to connect to eight key cities within Canada including Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary.

This growth plan will bring the Aer Lingus long haul schedule to 10 daily transatlantic services, connecting Ireland and Europe with cities throughout North America.

Christoph Mueller, Chief Executive, Aer Lingus, said: “Our transatlantic business goes from strength to strength. This expansion is extremely positive news for Aer Lingus and for the broader economy in terms of business, tourism and employment. Our transatlantic capacity will increase by 24% in 2014, following on from the 13% additional capacity in our 2013 transatlantic schedule. Our operation of the San Francisco route will strengthen Ireland’s ties with Silicon Valley and encourage Ireland’s development as a technology hub for Europe. San Francisco’s Silicon Valley is home to many of the world’s largest technology companies and several of these companies have European headquarters in Dublin.”

He continued: “Toronto is the sixth biggest North American market out of Ireland. In addition to being a great tourist destination, the city is home to a large Irish community and we look forward to welcoming them on board. We are confident that the increased number of flights from Shannon to New York and Boston will bring additional tourists to the Western region.

Commenting on the announcement, Leo Varadkar TD, Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, said: “This announcement of new services by Aer Lingus is fantastic news. This Government has always sought to improve air access to key tourism and business markets, such as the US and Canada. Canada is the world’s 11th largest economy and California is reckoned to be the world’s 12th largest. I know that the business and tourism sectors are delighted with this news. More than 40% of Ireland’s total foreign direct investment comes from Silicon Valley alone. The return of the direct air service to the US west coast is particularly important and I’m very happy to see the route being filled by an Irish airline.”

To support the operation of the new routes, Aer Lingus will wet lease three Boeing 757 aircraft from ASL Aviation Group. The aircraft will be configured with an economy and business class cabin. Business travellers will continue to enjoy the same great level of service; with gourmet meals, sleeper seats and an extensive in-flight entertainment selection.