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The management of Norwegian Air have reiterated a promise to deliver $69 trans-Atlantic flights using the new Boeing 737 MAX 8 airliner, starting sometime in 2017:
According to Norwegian Air chief commercial officer Thomas Ramdahl, his airline is awaiting the aircraft needed for the $69 flights. That's because the first of the 100 Boeing 737 MAX 8 airliners Norwegian Air ordered to operate those flights won't be ready for delivery until 2017. The Boeing 737 Max 8 is expected to enter service with launch partner Southwest Airlines during the third quarter of 2017. However, Boeing told Bloomberg's Julie Johnson and Mary Schlangenstein that the planes could be ready for delivery as early as March.
Ramdahl told Business Insider that his airline plans to make an announcement around November or December of this year with firm details of the $69 fares. "I can promise you that you will see trans-Atlantic flights on the 737Max next year," Ramdahl told us in an interview last week. "And that's when you will see the $69 fares."
The 737 MAX 8 features new fuel-efficient CFM LEAP-1B engines, upgraded avionics, and aerodynamics. As as result, the new jet offers airlines the range and performance to operate trans-Atlantic service with the lower cost of a narrow-body jet.
Found at NBF, which mentions other variants of the 737 MAX.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday September 15 2016, @07:01PM
Then you run into landing slots and gate issues, especially when you have to dock at an ICE-capable gate.
So your seats are highly desirable and go up in price.
The solution becomes a bigger plane again, which should provide economies of scale, rendering this Boeing ad quite moot.
While Europe has low-cost companies using smaller planes to/from smaller airports, with the support of those airports which arrange for regional connectivity and provide subsidies for the extra jobs, this system just doesn't seem to be working in the US.
A good deal of consolidation a decade ago took care of the competition problem, so people take whatever max-profit route they are offered, pay their 100%-profit surcharges, and shut up.