Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Holiday in Berlin?
Norse Atlantic offering nonstop flights from Fort Lauderdale
South Florida holiday travelers with appetites for reveling in Europe can now fly nonstop to Berlin from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport aboard the new discount carrier Norse Atlantic Airways.
The airline’s inaugural flight to the capital of Germany was scheduled to take off Wednesday at about 11 p.m. for a 9-hour-and-40minute journey. Transatlantic flights are a rarity for the Broward County airport, which most often services U.S. domestic flights, as well as north-south international trips to and from the Caribbean, Latin America and Canada.
The airline’s flights to Berlin’s Brandenberg Airport will operate three times a week and offer economy and premium classes aboard Boeing 787 Dreamliners, the airline says.
“It’s an exciting day for FLL as we welcome the airport’s first-ever scheduled nonstop route to Berlin,” said Mark Gale, CEO/Director of Aviation.
“Norse’s new service between Fort Lauderdale and Germany’s capital city follows its June launch of Oslo, Norway flights. Both routes play a pivotal role in helping reestablish FLL as a transatlantic gateway. We look forward to welcoming other European flights in the near future.”
Paris not far off
In an interview Wednesday, Norse Atlantic CEO Bjorn Tore Larsen said the addition of Paris to the airline’s route list is only a few months away, with the initial flights serving New York.
“I think we are launching our first flights from Paris to America in March, the end of March” he said. “Obviously Fort Lauderdale and southern Florida is going to be very important for us going forward.
“I think we are going to offer good alternatives for both French travelers who want to go to Florida, but also Floridians who want to go to Paris,” he said.
Norse Atlantic, whose U.S. headquarters is at the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in northwest Broward, gave travelers an initial taste of its service last June when it launched service to Oslo, Norway. The airline operates a fleet of 15 Boeing 787s to serve New York’s JFK International Airport, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Oslo, London, Berlin and Paris.
Orlando, Larsen clarified,
is a seasonal destination with flights to operate from Central Florida in the summer.
The airline’s Berlin flights from New York and Los Angeles started in August.
Generally, the reviews have been good after the airline started service to Europe from Fort Lauderdale, New York and Los Angeles.
“While the Norse Atlantic flying experience might feel bare bones compared to flying full-service carriers like American, Delta, or United, there’s an upside,” wrote Gunnar Olson of the Thrifty Traveler in September.
“The airline has a fleet of new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners with seats just as comfortable and spacious as you’ll find on most other airlines. Plus, those insanely low fares are impossible to beat.”
The airline’s low promotional one-way fares of $155 from Fort Lauderdale to Berlin, however, appear to have evaporated after being first advertised during the summer. On Tuesday, the carrier’s website listed a “best price” economy fare for Wednesday and Friday at $331. A premium price is listed at $755 for both days. For Sunday, the lowest fares were listed at $271 and $575 respectively.
As with other discount carriers, the airline maintains an a la carte menu of separate services at additional costs.
They include meals of varying types such as main, light, gluten free, vegetarian and diabetic ranging from $20 to $30, according to the website. Seating options range from $5 to $120 and include categories such as “standard middle,” “preferred” and “extra legroom.”
Fees are also charged for carry-on and checked luggage, though bags that fit under the seats are free.
Regional connections
Passengers in need of regional flights to their final U.S. or European destinations can benefit from connection agreements with domestic airlines.
Norse maintains partnerships with discount carriers Spirit Airlines of Miramar, easyJet, which is based in the United Kingdom, and Norwegian, which is based in Norway.
Through those marketing arrangements, passengers from the U.S. and Europe have access to more than 600 weekly connections to Norse’s transatlantic flights..
Larson said a simplified schedule, strategy of operating only long-haul flights, and use of the fuel-efficient Dreamliners have helped keep costs low and passes the savings on to the consumer.
“I think we generally have the best fares simply because we have a different business model,” he said. “We are a very focused niche operator.”
He also said Norse Atlantic is the only airline flying from Florida to Berlin.
New deal for flight attendants
At a time when U.S. pilots around the industry are lobbying for pay raises and better working conditions amid ongoing contract negotiations, Norse Atlantic is touting friendly labor relations with its flight attendants. Its pilots, who are also unionized, are based in the United Kingdom and Norway.
Norse employs nearly 1,000 people worldwide. The U.S. head count is 214 cabin crew members and 10 administrative workers who are mostly in Fort Lauderdale.
Late last month, Norse Atlantic’s attendants based in the U.S. and represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA ratified a contract that the union said leads the industry in starting pay, benefits and job protections.
“Norse Atlantic is demonstrating that low cost for consumers doesn’t have to mean low quality jobs for workers,” said Sara Nelson, AFA international president. “With this ratified contract, Norse makes the case for being the number one airline in the world for workers and we encourage the traveling public to support it.”