Norwegian Air Shuttle Provides Cheap Flights to Scandinavia with Boeing 787 Aircraft

You might not have heard of Norwegian Air Shuttle—they usually just do their flying under the Norwegian name—but you might want to add them to your airline “to-do” list. Right now the carrier kind of does mostly domestic routes here and there around Norway along with some international options to spots like Stockholm and Copenhagen. However, it’s the future we’re most interested in, because it sounds like as soon as they get some 787s, they’ll be headed to New York City.

Unfortunately the airline is a little ways down on the Boeing 787 delivery list, but once they do arrive there are already plans in place to link both Stockholm and Oslo with New York-JFK as early as two years from now. Scandinavia is perpetually on the travel to-do list, so maybe we’ll be checking that off over and over come 2013.

Not only will the new routes be served thanks to some assistance from Boeing’s newest birds, but these flights aboard Norwegian Air Shuttle will also be quite affordable—which is good news since stuff on the ground isn’t too cheap in Sweden and Norway. Assuming oil prices remain steady along with a bunch of other airline math, we could be looking at roundtrip flights as low as $350 or so. Flights could even go on sale as early as 2012 in advance of the following year, so get those credit cards ready.

Of course there’s plenty of uncertainly, and a lot of it depends on when Boeing actually delivers these plans to Norwegian—they’re actually leasing them through another company just in case you cared. Anyway, there’s even the possibility that Oslo and Stockholm could also be linked directly with nonstop flights to Bangkok rather than the Big Apple. Even if these proposed fares double in price it will still be quite a deal—especially on a 787—so we’ll definitely be following this over the next few months.

Boeing Co Again Postponed Deliveries of Boeing 787 Aircraft

Boeing Co. again postponed the delivery of its first Boeing Commercial Airplanes 787 to the middle of the 2011 first quarter, compounding a string of delays for the jetliner that is already more than two years past its original scheduled debut.

The latest delay is the result of engine delivery problems, Boeing said in a statement early Friday. The Chicago company said in July it expected to deliver the plane late this year, but it warned that might not happen. It had said at that time that a series of problems, including supplier work related to parts of the tail and instrument issues that might push the first delivery “a few weeks into 2011.”

The 787’s first customer, Japan’s All Nippon Airways, said in a statement the delay is regrettable especially “given the success of the flight test program so far.”

“However, we trust that the time will be used to deliver the best possible aircraft in the shortest possible time frame.”

The 787, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner, is made of many composite materials designed to make it lighter and more fuel-efficient than comparable planes already in the sky.

It lists for $150 million to $205.5 million, depending on the model, but major customers routinely get discounts.

Boeing said the delay won’t affect its financial expectations. Boeing spokeswoman Yvonne Leach said the company is working closely with British engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce to expedite engine deliveries, but current flight tests are continuing as planned.

Rolls-Royce said the delay was not related to the reported failure of an engine in a recent test.

“We have been informed by Boeing that the currently planned dates for Trent 1000 engine deliveries will not support their latest flight test program requirements,” Rolls-Royce said in a statement Friday.

However, Rolls-Royce confirmed “that the engine availability issue is unrelated to the test bed event which occurred earlier this month.”

The FlightGlobal website, an aviation news site, reported this week that a Trent 1000 engine suffered an “uncontained” failure – meaning debris broke out of the engine casing – during a test on Aug. 2.

United Airlines Signs Firm Order for 25 Airbus A350 XWB Aircraft

United Airlines has made a firm order for 25 of Airbus’ A350 extra-wide bodied jets, fulfilling a commitment signed in December, the European aircraft manufacturer said Wednesday.

Deliveries of the 314-seat A350-900s are scheduled to begin in 2016 and run through 2019, Airbus said in a statement.

The order is half of a 50-aircraft order United announced in December, when it also unveiled plans to buy 25 of Airbus’ rival Boeing Co.’s 787 jets.
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Boeing Will Test 787 Dreamliner in 2009 but Delays Delivery

Boeing Company, Thursday, announced it would test-fly its 787 Dreamliner later this year but disappointed customers by delaying delivery of the plane until the fourth quarter of 2010.

Wall Street cheered the announcement as Boeing’s stock soared more than 6% in New York trading after the company said it still expects the 787 to be profitable.
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S&P Worried About Possible Boeing Production Cuts

Standard & Poor’s said Friday it remains concerned about the potential for more order cancellations and deferrals at Boeing Co. that could force the airplane maker to scale back production of models other than its new 787 next year.
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