Summary
- Norse Atlantic will not operate from London Gatwick to Kingston
- The airline had initially scheduled the route to launch in October
- The carrier has 11 winter routes, plus whatever replaces Kingston
Norse Atlantic has removed London Gatwick to Kingston from sale more than three months before the first flight. The Jamaican capital was one of four routes the long-haul low-cost carrier introduced to improve winter performance, which is crucial to overall profitability and sustainability.
Presumably, sales and/or fares were insufficient, although long-haul routes take time to develop. Airline revenue managers often say it is easy to identify how a new service will perform based on sales in the first 48 hours. As winter approaches, it is unclear what will replace Kingston.
Norse Atlantic removes Kingston
The carrier's website shows that all non-stop flights on the 4,688-mile (7,545 km) route have been removed. It was initially to launch at the end of October when carriers in the Northern Hemisphere switch to winter schedules. However, Kingston – like other new Gatwick routes, Barbados and Montego Bay – were pushed back to December.
Revolving around Jamaican visiting friends and relatives demand, Norse Atlantic had expected to serve the capital on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The schedule was as follows, with all times local. (British Airways will continue to run three weekly.)
- London Gatwick to Kingston: Z0773, 12:00-17:05
- Kingston to London Gatwick: Z0774, 19:40-09:50+1
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Why tackle winter?
It is usually significantly easier for airlines to perform well in summer than in winter, as demand and fares are much higher. It is an even more challenging endeavor for long-haul LCCs, which are hard to make work in the best times. Traditionally, any summer profits an airline made offset winter losses.
To try to get winter to work, Norse made various routes summer seasonal, reduced frequencies and the number of seats on some routes it thinks could work well in the winter, and introduced winter-specific offerings. The latter comprised routes from Gatwick to Barbados, Kingston, and Montego Bay, along with Oslo to Bangkok.
It took a while for Norse Atlantic to realize the importance of doing things specifically for the highly challenging winter rather than just keeping the same routes as summer. It hopes to achieve higher fares, yields, and loads to reduce winter losses. If it succeeds, it should help improve its foundation, performance, and longevity.
Norse Atlantic's winter network
When writing on August 21st, Norse Atlantic's November-February schedule shows that it plans 11 winter routes, excluding whatever replaces Kingston. More than half are new. Six are from Gatwick, two from Paris CDG and Oslo, and one from Berlin. It will have 55 weekly departing flights, 39 from Gatwick.
Ordered by frequency, its winter network is broken down as follows. It will be interesting to see how its new weekly Berlin-Miami service performs – to be its only route from the German capital, as JFK ends – and whether daily service to Barbados, with many seats to sell, is sustainable. Its network is thinly spread across European airports, which is always dangerous.
- CDG-JFK: daily
- Gatwick-Barbados: daily (begins December 1st)
- Gatwick-JFK: daily
- Gatwick-Los Angeles: daily
- Gatwick-Miami: daily (begins September 18th; replaces Fort Lauderdale)
- Gatwick-Orlando: daily
- CDG-Miami: four weekly (begins December 11th)
- Gatwick-Montego Bay: four weekly (begins December 1st)
- Oslo-Bangkok: three weekly (begins November 2nd)
- Berlin-Miami: weekly (begins December 15th; served Fort Lauderdale until March 2023)
- Oslo-Miami: weekly (begins September 18th; replaces Fort Lauderdale)
What do you make of it all? Let us know by commenting.
Sources of information: Cirium, Norse Atlantic's website, Google Flights, Sean Moulton via Twitter.