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13th Mar 2019

Norwegian announce plans to accommodate Irish customers following suspension of Boeing 737 Max 8 flights

Conor Heneghan

Norwegian

Irish customers affected by the suspension will be rebooked onto new flights.

Norwegian has confirmed it will temporarily deploy a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to operate US flights from Dublin Airport to support customers affected by the suspension of Boeing 737 Max 8 flights in Irish airspace.

On Tuesday, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) issued a statement confirming the ban on all Max 8 aircraft from Irish airspace, meaning that these planes cannot fly to or from Ireland, nor can they fly over Ireland en route to somewhere else.

The decision follows a second Max 8 crash in five months, which has raised serious safety concerns. Over the weekend, one Irish citizen was among 157 people killed as flight from Ethiopia to Kenya crashed after just six minutes in the air.

In response to the decision by the IAA and the instruction by the European aviation regulatory bodies to suspend operations of the Boeing 737 MAX, Norwegian will temporarily deploy the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to operate US flights from Dublin Airport, starting on Wednesday (13 March).

Customers booked on affected Norwegian 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.

The first flight will be operated on Wednesday on flight D81763 from Dublin Airport to New York Stewart International Airport (SWF) at 3.20pm local time. 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 will position the 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft and crew from London Gatwick to Dublin Airport this afternoon at 1.30pm local time on Wednesday.

Norwegian also issued an apology to affected customers and said that it remains committed to ensuring that customers can continue to travel on Norwegian’s network.

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