Norse Atlantic Airways launches so-called ‘connections’
Norse Atlantic Airways, the Norway-based low-cost airline with exceptionally cheap fares to the US, has launched new connecting flight options in partnership with the Icelandic company Dohop. This company might sound familiar if you are a regular reader of this blog since I wrote an article in January on the Worldwide by easyJet service which is likewise powered by Dohop. Here’s a rundown of what you can expect from Norse Atlantic’s new connections.
What is Norse Atlantic offering with Dohop?
Using Dohop’s API integration, Norse Atlantic can offer ‘virtual’ connections and interline agreements between the airline and others globally. The press release explicitly states that Norse will be selling these ‘virtual’ connections onto the following airlines:
easyJet to connect to and from Norse’s flights at London Gatwick and Berlin Brandenburg
Norwegian at Oslo Gardermoen
Spirit to connect at US destinations
Customers will be able to book connecting flights involving Norse Atlantic flights at connections.flynorse.com or worldwide.easyjet.com which allows passengers to select add ons across their flights within the single website. Norse advertise the benefits of their solution to include the ability for Dohop’s contact centre to transfer passengers to the next available flight.
Why I am sceptical
Surprisingly for a press release, Norse seem to have noted some of the issues with the partnership with Dohop and these other airlines including:
Norse will not hold flights for connecting passengers.
Connections are subject to up to a 2.5 hour 'Minimum Connection Time’
Customers will need to pass through customs and re-check their own baggage before a connecting flight
Compared to legacy airlines, the offering from Norse, Dohop and Co. is not attractive. The Minimum Connection Time stated is fine and generally even on normal airlines, the more time the better. While the rebooking of passengers onto alternative flights is positive, the recheck of baggage creates problems. I have questions about what happens if you face lengthy delays at border patrol, baggage claim and customs resulting in the Minimum Connection Time disappearing in no time - where does the blame lie here? If the passenger cannot expedite the processes, will Dohop rebook the passenger? Equally, I suspect there will be issues with some passengers who may have the right visa requirements to enter their destination country but cannot enter the intermediary connecting country due to not having clearance to enter to collect the bags and recheck them. This is a slightly moot point for the US as all inbound passengers have to clear immigration and re-check baggage but it could be a genuine issue in Europe.
In my view, the phrases used in the press release are confusing to consumers since the phrase interline traditionally means that tickets can be issued at the origin airport and luggage checked through to the destination. Virtual interlining, a phrase coined by Dohop and a similar company called Kiwi, just relates to your booking being within a single itinerary. The airline at your origin airport will only issue the boarding pass for the first flight and none of the benefits of a traditional interline agreement. In my view, these virtual interline tickets are more hassle than they are worth with prices that are not too much cheaper.
