A new chapter in the history of aviation in South Florida was written on Friday November 29, 2013. On that evening, the first scheduled Boeing 787 service landed at Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport (FLL). Norwegian Air Shuttle flight 7041 landed at 7:21pm on runway 10L following a 9 hour, 53 minute flight from Copenhagen’s Kastrup Airport. The flight was operated by the newest Boeing 787-8 to enter Norwegian’s fleet, bearing the registration EI-LNC. The aircraft had entered the airline’s fleet just 2 days before when it was delivered by Boeing on November 27th.
Norwegian Air Shuttle flight 7032 departing Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport for Oslo, Norway. Photos courtesy Suresh Atapattu
Norwegian Air Shuttle will be operating the their new service to Fort Lauderdale from Copenhagen, Denmark (CPH), Oslo, Norway (OSL) and Stockholm (Arlanda), Sweden (ARN). Each European city will see two flights per week to the South Florida destination in a rotation. Sundays and Thursdays see flights arriving in Fort Lauderdale from Stockholm and departing for Copenhagen. On Mondays and Fridays, the flights return to Florida from Copenhagen and then depart for Oslo. Finally, on Tuesdays and Saturdays, the 787 returns to Fort Lauderdale from Oslo before heading back to Stockholm. Each flight is scheduled to arrive in Fort Lauderdale at 8:00 PM. Departure back to Europe is scheduled for 9:30 PM the same evening.
Beginning on July 4th, 2014, Norwegian will also fly twice weekly between London Gatwick and Fort Lauderdale/ Hollywood International Airport. This is in addition to the services from Scandinavia. Currently, Norwegian Air Shuttle also serves New York (JFK) in the United States, with a major expansion planned in the coming year. Los Angeles, CA (LAX), Oakland, CA (OAK), and Orlando (MCO) are all scheduled to receive new service in March, early May, and late May of 2014 respectively. Additional 787 service to South Florida is expected to commence in late summer, 2014 when LAN Airlines begins using the 787 on its Santiago de Chile to Miami route.
Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport was established in 1946 after the closure of NAS Fort Lauderdale and the transfer of the airport to Broward County, Florida. Commercial Operations began in 1953 with services to Nassau, Bahamas and then domestic service to the northeastern United States in 1958-59. It currently serves 26 airlines, including as a focus city for JetBlue Airways and the home to Spirit Airlines. European operations are not new to Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport with leisure carrier Condor Airlines currently running seasonal service to Germany. The new service from Norwegian Air Shuttle marks the first year-round service to Europe from the airport. Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport is currently in the midst of a major expansion project that will see the southern, formerly GA-only runway expanded to allow for use by commercial flights. Additionally, Concourse A in Terminal 1 and the international terminal (Terminal 4) are undergoing major expansions.
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