Norwegian plans to launch flights to US for under £60! Norwegian has announced plans to launch flights from Britain to the US for less than £60 – reducing its current prices by more than 50%. The $69 (£56) one-way fares, which will be start in summer 2017, will be the cheapest transatlantic tickets on the market.

Bjorn Kjos, chief executive of the Oslo-based airline, said that the airline will offer the low prices on flights from Edinburgh to New York on board its six new Boeing 737MAX aircraft. The airline will take delivery of the aircraft in April, and flights will commence a few months later.

“Our planes are very, very fuel efficient,” Kjos said of the Boeing 737MAX models. “We have a totally different set up to other airlines. The Boeing 737MAX has a very modern engine, which means it can go for a longer distance.”

The airline also plans to cut prices by flying to out-of-town airports in New York state, rather than JFK. “We’ll also be flying to secondary airports in New York,” said Kjos. “That means we don’t pay as much and can charge cheaper fares”. The airline has not yet announced which New York airport will be the flights’ final destination, but it already flies to Newark Liberty International Airport from the UK.

It also confirmed that the routes will be operated by crew from two new bases it plans to establish in the US —a move expected to create at least 150 crew and pilot jobs — and that it is actively recruiting crew and pilots across Europe to match its fleet growth and route expansion plans.

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, trading as Norwegian, is the third largest low-cost carrier in Europe, the second-largest airline in Scandinavia, and the ninth-largest airline in Europe in terms of passenger numbers. It offers a high-frequency domestic flight schedule within Scandinavia and Finland, and to business destinations such as London, as well as to holiday destinations in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands, transporting 24 million people in 2014.