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New $149 California-Spain flights – and it’s not Norwegian

Level will fly A330s from Oakland and Los Angeles. (Image: IAG)

British Airways’ parent International Airlines Group (IAG) is making good on its promise to take on Norwegian Air by bringing a new low-fare service from California to Spain this summer. New nonstops on Level between Oakland, Los Angeles and Barcelona start June 2.

When the service was announced earlier this year, one-way fares started at $149. Currently the cheapest roundtrip fares for June OAK-BCN flights are $366.  For July and August flights, fares are in the $700 roundtrip range.

Tickets are on sale now at www.flylevel.com. As with other low fare carriers, you’ll pay fees for checked bags, assigned seats and food, but even with those, this is still a good deal.

The Level A330s (operated by Spain’s Iberia Airlines at first) will have 21 premium economy and 293 regular economy seats.

Economy seating on a Level A330. (Image: IAG)

Economy seats on the A330 are configured 2-4-2 with 30 inches of pitch. Each seat gets a 9-inch seatback video screen.

Premium economy seats have slightly wider armrests and 37 inches of pitch and larger 12-inch video screens. A premium economy fare (about $1,300 round trip) also includes a checked bag, a carry-on bag, in-flight meals, advance seat selection and in-flight movies. Inflight Wi-Fi starts at $9.65.

Premium economy seats on Level are slightly larger with 37 inches of pitch (Image: Level)

Here’s how Level describes its premium economy section

What’s more, flights on Level will be included in IAG’s Avios loyalty program, which is also a feature of its other subsidiaries (BA, Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling). However, we don’t yet know how many Avios members will earn.

Norwegian announced last fall that it plans to begin new 787 service to Barcelona from Los Angeles starting June 5 and from Oakland beginning June 7. It was initially offering one-way fares starting at $199.

In addition to the U.S. service, Level will fly from Barcelona to Buenos Aires, Argentina and to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. At Barcelona, passengers will be able to connect to intra-European flights on IAG’s Vueling subsidiary.

“Barcelona has been chosen as the first European city for the launch of IAG’s new operation but LEVEL will look to expand its flights from other European cities,” IAG said.

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Ten new Europe routes will offer $65 fares

Norwegian will add 10 new routes this summer. (Map: Norwegian Air)

In its latest assault on the transatlantic market, Norwegian Air has unveiled details of its much-rumored plans to add a bunch of new low-fare routes to Europe from the northeastern U.S. this summer.

The airline said it will kick off service on 10 new routes, with one-way fares starting at $65, including taxes and government fees. That’s a total of 38 flights a week to four airports in Ireland and one in Scotland, all using the carrier’s new 737 MAX aircraft — a next-generation version of the single-aisle plane that has greater range and fuel efficiency.

The flights will operate out of Stewart Airport in Newburgh, N.Y. (about 60 miles up the Hudson from New York City); and from Providence, R.I. and Connecticut’s Bradley International near Hartford. Destinations include Cork, Shannon and Dublin in Ireland; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Edinburgh, Scotland.

A screenshot from Norwegian’s U.S. website today (Feb. 23)

Why the smaller U.S. airports? “These airports offer good access into the New York, Boston and New England areas but carry significantly lower landing charges, allowing Norwegian to offer some truly affordable fares that will allow as many people as possible to fly,” the company said.

Specifically, the schedule calls for service to Edinburgh starting June 15 from all three U.S. airports (daily from Stewart, four a week from Providence and three a week from Bradley); the only transatlantic non-stops into Belfast, beginning July 1 from Stewart (three flights a week) and Providence (two a week); the only transatlantic flights into Cork, starting July 1 from Providence (three flights a week); and service into Shannon and Dublin from Stewart and Providence, also starting July 1. The Shannon flights will operate twice weekly from both airports, while the Dublin schedule includes daily service from Stewart and five a week from Boston.

A Boeing 737MAX in Norwegian livery. (Image: Boeing)

The new flights are already on sale. The $65 one-way fares are subject to capacity controls, and do not include separate charges for a variety of services and amenities.

Norwegian is on a strong growth track. The airline is due to take delivery of nine more 787-9s this year, which it uses on longer-haul U.S. routes, along with half a dozen 737 MAX aircraft. Norwegian already flies to London Gatwick from Oakland, Los Angeles, New York JFK, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando, and on several other transatlantic routes.

Norwegian is also negotiating with European carriers Ryanair and EasyJet about the creation of a low-cost carrier alliance that would permit passengers to easily connect among their networks.

Soooo dear readers, how do you feel about flying a 737 across the Atlantic? Have you flown Norwegian Air yet? Please leave your comments below. 

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New East Coast-U.K. 737 flights for $69

A Boeing 737MAX in Norwegian livery. (Image: Boeing)

A Boeing 737MAX in Norwegian livery. (Image: Boeing)

Norwegian Air, Europe’s fast-growing low-cost transatlantic airline, revealed plans to begin new service between New York State and Scotland next summer with fares as low as $69 one-way.

The Scotsman newspaper reported this week that the carrier plans to use its newly acquired Boeing 737MAX aircraft to launch super-low-cost flights linking Edinburgh with the New York area.

Norwegian will be getting six of the planes in April, and will start flying the new Edinburgh route a few months later, the newspaper said. The 737MAX is a next-generation, fuel-efficient model of the 737 that can fly longer distances than its predecessors.

Norwegian Air CEO Bjorn Kjos told the newspaper that the airline will cut costs on the new route even more by using “secondary airports” in New York for the service instead of JFK or Newark to take advantage of lower landing fees. (Although Norwegian’s base fares are very low, passengers are assessed separate fees for a wide variety of amenities and services.)

Kjos didn’t identify any airports, but The Times Herald-Record newspaper in upstate Middletown, N.Y. recently reported that Norwegian plans to start a significant amount of transatlantic service in 2017 – as many as 21 flights a week — from Stewart Airport to Scotland, Ireland, England and Norway with its new 737MAX aircraft.

Stewart Airport is in Newburgh, N.Y., a Hudson Valley town about 60 miles north of New York City.  Despite the distance from the city, Stewart is controlled by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

New York's little Stewart Airport could get a lot busier next year. (Image: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey)

New York’s little Stewart Airport could get a lot busier next year. (Image: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey)

Norwegian is also said to be considering new transatlantic 737MAX routes out of Providence, R.I., or Portsmouth, N.H.

An official with New York State’s Orange County, where Stewart Airport is located, told the newspaper that discussions have started with bus lines to provide express service between the airport and New York City for Norwegian’s passengers, and that plans are under way to expand the airport’s Customs facilities. Officials suggested that a large Norwegian presence could lead U.S. carriers to operate more domestic service into the airport.

The airline already flies from New York JFK to London Gatwick with fares starting at around $150 each way, and recently announced plans to increase service next year on routes from Gatwick to New York, Oakland, Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando. The company also won U.S. approval recently for its new Irish subsidiary, which is expected to start flying to the U.S. East Coast from Cork and Shannon, Ireland in 2017.

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