NEWS

Norwegian Air plans to launch nonstop service between Las Vegas and London’s Gatwick airport, the carrier announced Monday.

The route would give fast-growing Norwegian its fourth route out of Las Vegas. The low-cost carrier already flies to its bases in Stockholm and Copenhagen. Las Vegas-Oslo flights are set to begin in November.

But the Gatwick flights will test whether there’s enough demand for a third carrier to fly between Las Vegas and London. Virgin Atlantic already offers daily round-trip service from Las Vegas to London Gatwick. British Airways flies daily between Las Vegas and its hub at London Heathrow.

Norwegian would fly two flights a week on the route using 291-seat Boeing 787 Dreamliners. The service starts Oct. 31.

“Norwegian is very committed to growing the U.S. market, and we are delighted to grow our presence at McCarran International Airport by adding service to London Gatwick,” Thomas Ramdahl, Norwegian’s Chief Commercial Officer, says in a statement. “We’ve seen great performance on all of our trans-Atlantic flights, and now, we are able to make travel to London more affordable for Nevadans.”

Norwegian touted fares as low as $199 each way on the route, though the carrier’s cheapest tickets come with add-on fees for items such as advance-seat assignments, checked luggage and large carry-on bags.

For Las Vegas, the new London route furthers the airport’s recent effort to lure more international service to the city.

“We’re in the process of doubling McCarran’s number of international-ready gates from seven to 14, and I personally cannot wait to see those new international gates occupied by more and more of Norwegian Air’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft,” Rosemary Vassiliadis, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation that operates McCarran Airport, says to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

For Norwegian, the Las Vegas-London route is the latest in the carrier’s rapid U.S. expansion.

The airline says it’s in the midst of launching nine new long-haul routes from the U.S. this year, including several new routes to Paris. Earlier this month, Norwegian launched another new London route with service from Oakland.

In total, Norwegian’s schedule now offers 40 nonstop routes from the U.S. to destinations in London, Paris, Scandinavia and the Caribbean. Norwegian says it flies “more European routes (from the USA) than any other European airline,” all of which are operated on Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Norwegian, of course, has critics among U.S. airlines and their labor groups who allege the company is using an Irish-based subsidiary to avoid more-stringent labor rules in its home region of Scandinavia.

After a lengthy delay, the U.S. Department of Transportation gave tentative approval to Norwegian’s Norwegian Air International subsidiary in April.

Still, that hasn’t ended the controversy. House lawmakers remain opposed to allowing Norwegian Air International to fly to the U.S., and are trying to spearhead legislation to block approval for the Norwegian Air International subsidiary.