Airtravel - Fewer transfer and lower prices

[Chuckanut]

It looks like more efficient aircraft and some small airlines may reduce travel time, transfers and airfares between the US and Europe for starters.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...lantic-trip-may-be-on-boeing-s-diminutive-737

the smaller jets will open up direct routes that wouldn’t otherwise be viable. That would do away with the need to switch between flights at a busy hub. At the same time people can look forward to competitive fares as carriers seek out smaller airports where access charges are lower.

Let's hope they help keep the lid on prices charged with the Big Guys.

 

[Meadbh]

WestJet launched its first transatlantic service (St. John's to Dublin) in 2014, using its fleet of Boeing next gen 737-800s. The flight is only 4.5 hours, the same as Toronto to Vancouver.

In the early days of transatlantic flying, shorter legs such as Gander-Shannon were the norm. Plus ça change.....

 

[Bamaman]

What's got the legacy airlines fuming is the government allowing Norwegian Air Shuttle come into the North American market. Other airlines have automatically lowered fares in an effort to compete.

Airlines claim Norwegian's staffed with Far East crews who are not paid nearly as well as crews from the rest of the world. Norwegian has since hired a bunch of American pilots/co-pilots.

We've flown 5 legs in the last 2 years in Norwegian's brand new Boeing 787's. We're flying to Boston from Budapest next month for $238 each--a great fare. The U.S. legacy carriers want $1100 to get us home.

You also have Aerlingus flying into Dublin from the East Coast cheaply where fliers can also get into Ryanair's cheap flights to virtually anywhere in Europe. And a couple of Icelandic airlines are also reducing fares to Europe--and allowing free layovers in Iceland.

With the devaluation of the Euro (vs. the U.S. dollar) and much lower airfares than the last few years, 2017 is especially a great time to travel to Europe.