Norwegian Introducing Larger Premium Cabin With Less Legroom on Its 787s
After a year of strong growth, with a 11% increase in passengers last November from a year earlier, Norwegian made a big announcement Tuesday, with the introduction of a new premium cabin layout on its Boeing 787s.
The airline will introduce a larger premium cabin on its new 787-9s, increasing the size 60% over the old premium cabin. The new seats will look the same but will actually have less legroom than the current design, from 46" of pitch to 43". A Norwegian spokesman told us that the configuration on the airline's new 787-9 Dreamliners will feature 56 premium seats and 282 in regular economy for a total of 338 seats.
Right now, Norwegian's premium cabin is similar to that of a premium economy product, or older business class recliner seats — featuring a 2-3-2 layout, personal TV and footrest. Norwegian's 787-8 currently has 32 premium seats and its 787-9 has 35 premium seats. TPG reviewed premium class and enjoyed his experience.
The new premium cabin will be installed on the next 20 787-9s that Norwegian will start taking delivery of in February. 10 of the 787s with the new cabin will operate on routes originating from London's Gatwick airport (LGW).
The airline also said that it will "begin to rollout inflight Wi-Fi on long-haul routes that will keep passengers connected in the skies." Although Norwegian didn't provide much detail, the carrier only operates 787s on its long-haul routes, except for some 737s, which already feature Wi-Fi. It's unclear how long it will take to equip its wide-body fleet with in-flight internet and what type of system the aircraft's will feature, although last summer the carrier did say that it will offer free Wi-Fi on all its routes within one year.
Being a low-cost carrier, Norwegian prices its premium product competitively and if you want to save even more money you can actually book through the Norwegian version of the website, which can sometimes save you up to 20%. TPG recently discussed the trick when he appeared on NBC's Today Show last week.
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