Flying on the only year-round link between London's second busiest airport and New York.
A Norse Atlantic Airways 787-9 (Photo: Norse Atlantic Airways | Malcolm Nason)
After spending a few days in London, following my flight on board Aegean business cabin, I was flying on board Norse in its premium cabin from London Gatwick to JFK in New York.
I made sure to get to the airport three hours ahead of time as I had heard horror stories of the long security and customs lines flying out of London. The airline does not offer kiosk or online check-in so you will need to see an agent at the airport before going to the gate.
Arriving at London Gatwick for my Norse flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
The reason I did not say Norse Atlantic Airways, is because that is not what they are here at London Gatwick. Although all of its logos still say “Norse,” all of its flights out of the United Kingdom are operated by a side company called Norse Atlantic UK, and even their boarding passes have a different airline code; Z0, which is the code for Norse Atlantic UK with N0 being the code for Norse Atlantic Airways.
My Norse Atlantic UK boarding pass (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
It turns out I did not need to get to the airport that early, as customs was relatively quick and so was security. They didn’t announce our gate till about an hour before departure, at which point there was a large crowd of people heading in the same direction. Once at the gate, they immediately scanned our boarding passes and put all of us into a holding area to wait until boarding started.
My Norse Atlantic UK aircraft over to JFK (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
My aircraft for the flight back to the United States was G-CKWS, a Boeing 787-9 named “Yellowstone,” which was originally delivered to Norwegian Air UK in February 2019, meaning it remained with a U.K. registration and actually has the exact same registration as when it was with the former airline.
Before I knew it, the time had come to board the aircraft for New York. I was sitting in the airline’s premium cabin, which is arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration, my seat was 5J, a window seat on the right side of the aircraft. Waiting for me at my seat with a pillow as well as a blanket.
My seat 5J, over to New York on Norse (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Before pushing back from the gate, they brought around drinks for those in the premium cabin. We had a choice of either juice, water, or champagne. Next came pushback and then a short taxi to the runway and take takeoff towards JFK Airport.
Taking off from London-Gatwick towards JFK on Norse (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Once in the air, I started to look at some of the features of the in-flight entertainment system (IFE). The screen came out of the armrest and had a wonderful color to it, with the welcome screen featuring the aurora borealis as well as my seat number. The screen featured a USB-A port as well as a headphone jack on the bottom of it.
My IFE screen on my Norse flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
The Boeing 787, featured the unique dimmable windows which were locked on clear for takeoff as well as landing. On overnight flights, they lock them in a darker setting so that passengers can sleep and not disturb others by letting the light in. Below you can see the difference in what the windows look like in clear mode as well as dark mode.
The contrast of the darkest and lightest setting on the Boeing 787 dimmable windows (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
They offered an eye mask as well as earplugs. The seats had a generous amount of recline as well as a leg rest. There was also a coat hook on the seatback to hang things from. On the armrest, there was a level that extended the leg rest to a longer position for those that are taller. About 45 minutes or so after the takeoff they brought around drinks and offered a wide selection, such as wine, beer, other alcoholic drinks, as well as soft drinks, and of course, water.
For the main course, they offered a choice of chicken or fish, and I chose the chicken option, which came with mashed potato with cheese, broccoli, and carrots. On the side, there was a quinoa salad, as well as a lemon dessert of some kind, along with bread.
The main course on my London Gatwick to JFK flight with Norse (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
From the IFE screen, you could order drinks, and snacks, as well as watch movies, TV or shop for duty-free items as well. There was a progress bar for the flight showing how much has passed and how much of it is left, but the airline has not yet added a moving map to their IFE system.
Now at our cruising altitude of 38,000 feet/11,582.40 meters, I settled in for the rest of the flight and spent it watching movies. At some point, while I was watching a movie, I fell asleep and woke up as we were passing over the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Enroute from London Gatwick to JFK (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
At one point during the flight, I woke up and happened to see another aircraft traveling with us in the same general direction. It turned out to be a Swiss flight headed from Zürich to Montreal.
A Swiss Air plane traveling from Zurich to Montreal (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
About an hour or so before landing, they brought around the pre-arrival meal. It was a quiche with two kinds of cheese, pickles, yogurt, as well as bread, and a cookie for dessert along with of course your choice of drink. By the time the pre-arrival meal was over, we were already on our descent towards New York City.
The pre-arrival meal on my Norse flight from London to New York (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
I spent the rest of the flight enjoying the views out of the window, along with the aurora borealis cabin light display before landing which didn’t look as cool during the daylight, but was still nice to see.
Descending into the New York area (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Just before landing, they collected garbage along with the blankets that they gave us during the flight. However, if you did want to keep one of the blankets they gave you, they do sell them to passengers.
The aurora borealis cabin light display prior to landing (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
Going into JFK we made an approach I had never done before, we approached the airport from the south and then made a right bank just before landing to land on 13L.
Making a right turn before landing on runway 13L (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Joey Gerardi)
We touched down at JFK airport at 3:08 p.m. after nearly 7 hours of flying time. It was a great flight on Norse from London Gatwick to JFK. The crew was wonderful and the food options were good as well. The carrier boasts its low fare option on one of the busiest sectors on the planet, even for its Premium cabin.
Despite the London to New York sector being one of the most competitive, with many different airlines operating flights from New York City to London, Norse, or better said Norse Atlantic UK, is currently the only airline offering flights from London Gatwick to JFK year-round. Delta flies the route from May to October, and British Airways from April to October.
During the winter months, Norse drops the Gatwick to JFK flights to about 4 to 5 flights a week depending on the month with the flight operating in the middle of the day, but during the summer months, they offer the route twice a day on most days of the week.
A video account of this London Gatwick to JFK trip report with Norse can be found below:
Editor’s Note: Norse Atlantic Airways provided AirlineGeeks with a seat on this flight, but this trip report is an objective portrayal of the events and is in no way swayed by that aspect.
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