Norwegian to continue Dublin to US flights using Boeing's Dreamliner
Norwegian Airlines has said it will replace the grounded Boeing 737 MAX airplane with a different model to operate US flights from Dublin Airport in the aftermath of the Ethiopian Airlines disaster at the weekend.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, along with a number of national aviation authorities, suspended all operations performed by Boeing 737 MAX 8 planes, after one such model crashed within minutes of take-off from in Addis Ababa on Sunday, killing 157 people on board including Clare father-of-two Micheál Ryan.
Norwegian use the model in question to service its US flights from Dublin Airport, but the airline has announced it will temporarily deploy a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to serve the route.
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has 338 seats; 56 seats ‘premium’ spaces, and 282 seats in economy.
In a statement, Norwegian said it is informing customers with SMS and web updates on the status of its flights, and providing care and assistance while re-routing passengers within its network.
“Customers booked on affected transatlantic routes to and from Ireland serviced by the 737 MAX will be rebooked onto flights using the 787-9 Dreamliner. The 787 Dreamliner, registered G-CKWF with Charles Lindbergh on the aircraft tail, will operate the Dublin-New York Stewart (SWF) route daily,” Norwegian said.
The first such flight, D81763 from Dublin Airport to New York Stewart International Airport, took off today. (weds)
“Arrangements are being made to accommodate passengers booked to travel from Dublin to Stewart and Providence on the new Dreamliner service with plans to bus passengers to Providence upon arrival in New York,” Norwegian said.
Norwegian to continue flights between Ireland and US with alternative to Boeing 737 Max
Norwegian will continue flying between Dublin and the US using a different plane to the suspended Boeing 737 Max.
All variations of the Boeing 737 Max were banned from accessing Irish airspace yesterday following Sunday's fatal crash in Ethiopia which involved a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft.
As a result, Norwegian will operate its flights from Dublin to New York Stewart using the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
The 338-seater aircraft will arrive from London at 1.30pm this afternoon to depart for the US at 3.20pm.
