Norwegian Air launches Rome-Boston and challenges Alitalia to the USA

Norwegian Air again challenged Alitalia on routes to the US by launching the Rome Fiumicino-Boston route for next summer.

From Sunday, March 31, the carrier will connect the Italian capital to Massachusetts 4 times a week, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.

During the 2019 summer season, the long-haul low-cost airline will connect Rome Fiumicino to 4 US destinations: New York/Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco/Oakland, and Boston.

“We are very happy to announce the new connection that is added to the intercontinental flights to the Big Apple and California,” said Amanda Bonanni, new sales executive of Norwegian in Italy.

The route to Boston is added to those for Los Angeles and New York where Alitalia will have to face Norwegian Air competition from Rome.

As for the new connection, according to Norwegian Air, “in the last 12 months, only 23,200 of the 56,600 passengers from Rome to Boston traveled by direct flight while the other part of the travelers interlined in London, Frankfurt, Dublin, or in an American city.”

In addition to the launch of the new route, during the summer of 2019, connections to the US will be further strengthened. The route to New York/Newark (frequency 7/7) predicts a +17% increase in the volume of seats on sale, equal to 146,500 tickets. The Rome-Los Angeles route also will grow with weekly frequencies that will pass from 3 to 4 (every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday) for a total of 70,800 seats (+33%). Lastly, the route from Fiumicino to San Francisco/Oakland was also boosted, passing from 2 to 3 weekly frequencies.

The news for the upcoming summer season also includes the launch of the Norwegian direct flight of London-Rio de Janeiro. The one to Brazil is the second Norwegian route to South America, which is added to the London Gatwick-Buenos Aires route.