Norse Atlantic Begins Caribbean Charter Flights for P&O Cruises Through March 2027
Why It MattersCruise lines are splitting fly-cruise charter work across several carriers, which gives long-haul operators with spare widebody capacity a way to fill seasonal winter flying outside their scheduled networks.
Norse Atlantic Airways has begun operating charter flights for P&O Cruises for the 2026/2027 northern winter season, carrying the cruise line's passengers from the United Kingdom to its Caribbean embarkation ports through March. The services link London Gatwick and Manchester with Barbados, with ad-hoc departures from Cardiff, Glasgow and Newcastle, plus Saturday flights from Gatwick and Manchester to Antigua. Norse uses Boeing 787-9 aircraft with Economy and Premium cabins.
P&O Cruises is spreading its air operation across three airlines this season. Virgin Atlantic operates a charter every two weeks from Manchester with Airbus A330 aircraft in a three-class configuration, and TUI Airways is the third carrier. Norse's flights feed the Eastern Caribbean Islands Fly-Cruise and Island Hopping in the Caribbean itineraries, both 14 nights long, which call at destinations including Antigua, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Kitts and Nevis and the British Virgin Islands.
The rest of Norse's fleet will add capacity between Europe and Thailand this winter, with new routes and extra frequencies from the United Kingdom and Scandinavia to Bangkok and Phuket. Two of its 787-9s have also flown for Pakistan International Airlines since November under an ACMI agreement signed on October 9, redeploying part of the capacity freed up by the end of its contract with IndiGo. The first of those aircraft landed in Islamabad on November 1 as flight PK786 from London Heathrow.
Paul Ludlow, president of Carnival UK and P&O Cruises, said that for fly-cruise guests the holiday begins at the airport, so an excellent flight experience is essential, and that the company is pleased to continue its well-established relationships with TUI, Norse Atlantic and Virgin Atlantic.
