Norwegian Air confirms Providence will be base for Europe flights
European budget carrier Norwegian Air has confirmed that Providence will become the second of two new bases for trans-Atlantic flights that the airline plans to operate with its new Boeing 737 MAX jets.
With that, Providence appears to have emerged as the winner in a race among New England airports for the base.
Norwegian already flies from numerous U.S. destinations. Last year, however, the airline announced plans to start flying from two smaller Northeast airports sometime in 2017, part of an effort open two U.S. bases to house pilots for its new Boeing 737 MAX jets. Those jets are scheduled to begin arriving to the carrier by mid-2017.
The new bases are expected to bring multiple European routes to each of those airports.
One of those airports – Stewart International in Newburgh, N.Y., about 70 miles from Midtown Manhattan – had already been confirmed by Norwegian. A second Norwegian 737 base was to be selected closer to Boston, with Providence, Hartford, Conn., and Portsmouth, N.H., under consideration by the carrier.
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Norwegian Air spokesman Anders Lindström confirmed to Today in the Sky on Monday that Providence will be the selection, though no additional details were available about the airline's plans there.
Norwegian CEO Bjørn Kjos may have first tipped his hand on which city it would be in a Thursday interview with The Seattle Times. In discussing the carrier’s plans for 2017, Kjos told the Times of Norwegian’s intent to use its new 737s to fly “thin” trans-Atlantic routes with moderate demand from new bases in Newburgh and Providence.
Now, with Norwegian confirming to Today in the Sky that Providence is the choice for the second 737 base, it remains to be seen whether Norwegian will still consider bringing Europe routes to either of the other airports. While Lindström confirmed Providence would get a 737 base, he did not rule out the possibility that Norwegian could also add additional trans-Atlantic service from either Hartford or Portsmouth.
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Whenever the flights do come to Newburgh and Providence, Norwegian has promised fares as low as $69 one way on multiple routes across the Atlantic. Newburgh and the second 737 base city are expected to land routes to destinations in Ireland, England, Scotland and – possibly – Scandinavia.
Newburgh’s airport, now run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that also runs New York City’s three primary airports (LaGuardia, JFK and Newark), has long been touted as a potential reliever facility for the New York City metro area.
Despite that, its flight schedule has remained relatively modest during the past decade. The airport currently has just five regularly scheduled routes on four airlines: American (flights to Philadelphia), Delta (to Detroit), JetBlue (to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando) and Allegiant (to St. Petersburg, Fla.).
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Providence's T.F. Green Airport has a more robust schedule, though it’s still considerably less than what’s offered 60 miles to the north at New England’s busiest air hub: Boston’s Logan International Airport.
Providence has secured some on-again, off-again routes to Europe in recent years, but landing a Norwegian pilot base – and the new routes it would bring – would be a significant boost for an airport in a region where the vast majority of the international routes operate from Boston.
Hartford’s Bradley International Airport, which sits about 110 miles from central Boston and about 125 from Midtown Manhattan. It has a healthy flight schedule for the size of the region it serves, but international flights have been harder to come by. Hartford scored a victory in landing flights to Dublin on Irish carrier Aer Lingus, but that service – which began just this past September – is the first trans-Atlantic route there in eight years.
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