Norwegian has announced that it will begin its flights from Edinburgh to Oslo and Copenhagen twice a week from 1 July 2020.
Jacob Schram, Norwegian CEO said: “Feedback from our customers has shown that they are keen to get back in the air and resume their travels with Norwegian beyond the current domestic services that we have been operating. Norwegian is returning to European skies with the reintroduction of more aircraft to serve our key destinations which will ensure that we remain in line with competing carriers.
“As competition in the industry begins to recover over the summer period Norwegian will be in a position to continue to offer our customers great value and service while contributing to the gradual yet important return to normality for both the tourism sector and society as a whole. Safety remains our top priority and we have introduced a number of specific measures to further reduce the already low risk of infection on board.”
The airline has only operated eight aircraft on domestic routes within Norway since April, but now it will operate a further dozen serving core destinations. These will cover 76 routes across Europe with other destinations including Spain, Greece and other key European cities.
The airline also published its new safety guidance:
New protective safety measures introduced to further reduce the risk of infection.
As the health and safety of our customers and crew are always our first priority we have introduced a number of measures to minimise the risk of infection onboard our aircraft, including:
* Travellers who are six years and older must use a facemask when travelling with us, as is recommended by the European aviation authorities.
* Passengers will be asked to keep their distance during boarding and deboarding.
* Hand luggage should be placed under the seat in front to minimise queuing in the cabin. Hand luggage that is too big to be placed under the seat in front needs to be checked in beforehand.
* Passengers will be seated with as much distance between them as possible. The mid row seats will be the last to be occupied. Passengers and families travelling together will be seated together.
* There is no catering on board to minimise the contact between our customers and our crew.
* We disinfect the aircraft thoroughly according to strict guidelines and have placed extra focus on contact points on board. This reduces the risk for both passengers and cabin crew.
All our aircraft are fitted with an advanced air filtration system that removes bacteria and viruses in the air. It is the same technology that is used in hospitals and operation theatres. The air inside the cabin is filtered every three to four minutes so that our customers can feel safe that the air onboard is clean when travelling with us.
Evidence suggests that the risk of becoming infected on board an aircraft is low. If suspicion arises that there is a case of infection on board, we have routines and equipment in place to handle it in a safe manner.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
