'Technical issue' grounds first Norwegian flight from Shannon to Rhode Island

BUDGET airline Norwegian has apologised after a ‘technical issue’ forced the cancellation of the first of its new flights from Shannon to Providence Green Airport in Rhode Island this week.

Much fanfare greeted the start of the new transatlantic services with the budget airline from Shannon to the US on Sunday, with the flight to Stewart International in Orange County departing as scheduled.

However, there was a hitch with Monday's flight to Providence.

A spokesperson for Norwegian Air International said: “We are extremely sorry that due to an aircraft technical issue, the planned flight from Shannon to Providence on Monday, July 3 was cancelled.

“A number of passengers were rebooked onto alternative flights from Cork and Belfast on Tuesday afternoon. Passengers not wishing to travel on the alternative flights have been offered free rebooking on other services or a full refund. We would like to sincerely apologise again to passengers for the inconvenience caused.”

The airline added that the next flight is due to run as scheduled next Monday.

The new US routes on the carrier – four a week from from Shannon to Stewart and to Providence – mean Shannon’s transatlantic offering is at its largest number for 17 years.

Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos promised “more choice and lower fares for travel to the USA” as a result.

The new services will provide additional transatlantic capacity this year of 40,000 seats, with 80,000 across 2018 when the flights operate year round for the first time, bringing transatlantic capacity at Shannon next year to over 550,000 seats.

Shannon Airport has hailed the additional routes as “a major milestone for our passengers”.