Norwegian Air and Ryanair are in talks about tie-in flights. The larger Norwegian Air will feed into the smaller Ryanair, increasing connectivity and exposure for both airlines.
The discussions are focused around who takes care of passengers on certain legs of the journey as well as whom to contact in case something happens or for questions, etc. Norwegian CEO says he doesn’t need the tie-ins but they are definitely something that can benefit both airlines.
For Norwegian, it would mean increased exposure and reach within Europe as they already have a fairly good network, but tied into Ryanair, they would have much better access, especially to some of the lesser-known European destinations, or to airports where their jets are too big.
Ryanair on the other hand would benefit from low cost connectivity across the Atlantic without the need to purchase larger jets on their own, as they would be affiliated with the Norwegian name and would benefit from that connection.
Can you imagine what it would be like to have low cost flights in Europe, as well as low cost transatlantic flights, resulting in low cost flights across the United States? Lots of travelers would love to travel about the United States, but unlike Europe, there is no true equivalent of a low cost flight such as Ryanair’s.
If these talks with Norwegian and Ryanair work out and they begin to expand across the US, one can only hope the healthy competition will force the local airlines to bring down their prices in order to compete.