Review - Norse Atlantic Airways Premium Class B787-9 Miami to London Gatwick
Z0724 MIA-LGW
May 21st 2025
Posts in this series:
Introduction - Another Random Jaunt to Europe
Review - Norse Atlantic Airways Premium Class B787-9 Miami to London Gatwick
Review - British Airways First Lounge Gatwick
Review - British Airways Business Class A320 London Gatwick to Dubrovnik
Review - Regent Porto Montenegro
Review - Adriatic Lounge Dubrovnik
Review - Croatia Airlines Business Class A220-300 Dubrovnik to Munich
Review - Lufthansa Business Lounge G Gates Munich
Review - Lufthansa Business Class A320 Munich to Budapest
Review - Matild Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Budapest
Review - MÁV Hungarian State Railways InterCity First Class Budapest-Keleti to Tokaj
Review - Plaza Premium Lounge (Non-Schengen) Budapest
Check-in:
If you’ve never heard of Norse Atlantic Airways, chances are you might have heard of Norwegian? Still rings no bell? OMG I feel SO SORRY for you that you’ve never studied abroad in Europe!! I’m kidding, of course (but am I?). So Norwegian, or Norwegian Air Shuttle, used to be this transatlantic low cost carrier that connected various points in Europe and North America. Even though it’s called Norwegian, their flights originated from Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, as well as other European capitals like Paris and London. Flying long-haul is tough, especially if you don’t have high yield business class customers. Exacerbated by covid, the airline went into restructuring. It got rid of all B787 Dreamliners in its fleet. Norwegian Air Shuttle still exists today, albeit only flying within Europe with a much smaller presence.
The geniuses at Norwegian thought, oh, the original business model failed. What if we put some lipsticks on the pig, maybe it’ll be different? Introducing Norse Atlantic Airways - the exact same planes from Norwegian with the exact same interiors and flying to and from the same places. You might think I’m here to trash the airline. Quite to the contrary, I actually quite enjoyed the experience. I even flew Norwegian back in the day from Bangkok to Stockholm and had a similar takeaway.
I arrived at Miami’s Concourse F a couple hours before our scheduled departure time. I had never set foot in Concourse F up until this point, and I don’t think I ever will again. Miami Airport in general is just a huge embarrassment, but Concourse F might be the crown jewel of this fine establishment. The facility was so dilapidated that I thought I was getting round up to be deported.
Norse Atlantic Airways Check-in at MIA
The check-in area was reasonably busy. Fortunately, there was a separate counter for Premium passengers, which is Norse Atlantic’s premium economy cabin. I booked this flight two days before departure and paid only $700 for this one-way premium economy fare. I did have to pay another $60 for seat selection because I was assigned a middle one. While Norse is a low cost airline, its Premium class includes a carry-on.
Lounge:
There was no lounge in Concourse F, so don’t come too early if you have Pre-Check. I wandered around the terminal to spot some lesser-known airlines, such as GlobalX, a charter airline. Although not the best facility, Concourse F does house the most unique collection of airlines at MIA - BOA Boliviana, Cayman Airways, French Bee and Red Air all operate out of this concourse.
GlobalX A320 at MIA
Here’s the bird that took us to Gatwick - a B787-9 Dreamliner.
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 at MIA
Boarding:
Boarding was casually delayed by 25 minutes, which wasn’t a huge deal. There was only one jet bridge deployed for the Dreamliner, so the gate area was a bit of “the Hunger Games”.
The moment I stepped onboard, I was immediately convinced that the cabin didn’t change at all from the Norwegian days.
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Economy Class Cabin
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Economy Class Cabin
One thing that stood out to me was how fresh and clean the cabin felt. After making a left at the galley, premium economy cabin was ahead with 56 seats in a 2-3-2 configuration. Premium class was sold out on this flight.
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Premium Class Cabin
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Premium Class Cabin
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Premium Class Cabin
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Premium Class Cabin
What’s mind-boggling about this product was its spectacular legroom. Like, you could’ve easily hopped over someone without waking them up. According to Norse website, premium class seat pitch is 43 inches, but it felt way more than that to me. As a point of comparison, Virgin Atlantic, who operates the same route and which I reviewed last year, has a 38-inch pitch in its premium economy cabin. Norse’s legroom and recline were much closer to those of Turkish Airlines B737 Max 8 business class.
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Premium Class Seat
My lil 5’10 legs could not reach the seat in front of me even if I tried.
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Premium Class Seat
And how wild is this recline.
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Premium Class IFE
Overall, I find the seats to be one of the most comfortable in premium economy, not that I’m well-versed in premium economy products but… I should mention air nozzles were at every seat, and the cabin was kept cool. IFE system was equipped into the seat, unlike some other low cost carriers who only offered streaming entertainment. The selection was passable, with a few dozen movies plus TV episodes.
Prior to departure, a welcome beverage was served, with a choice of either water or orange juice.
Norse Atlantic Airways Premium Class Pre-departure Drink MIA-LGW
Inflight:
We pushed back from the gate about an hour behind schedule, due to the late boarding and some paperwork issues. The captain came on to the PA to inform us our flight time of 7 hours and 35 minutes, which seemed short around this time of the year? I didn’t know tailwind could be that strong in late May.
The seatbelt sign was turned off within 10 minutes of the flight, and the flight attendants commenced their inflight service. There were two FAs staffed for premium economy. A pillow and a blanket were already placed at each seat upon boarding. A FA came around with a basket of eye masks, earplugs and earphones. Speaking of the FAs, I find it interesting that Norse had rather formal crew uniforms, given it’s a low cost carrier. While it’s not a 3-piece like those Virgin sluts, Norse FAs all had crisply-ironed suits and skirts.
Norse Atlantic Airways Premium Class Amenities MIA-LGW
40 minutes into the flight, a round of apéritif was served. I felt obliged to have a glass of Bottega prosecco, iykyk, along with some sparkling water.
Norse Atlantic Airways Premium Class Apéritif MIA-LGW
Dinner was then served on one tray. The options were chicken or beef, and by the time they made it to my row, I was left with only beef.
Norse Atlantic Airways Premium Class Dinner MIA-LGW
I think the picture pretty accurately reflects how it tasted, which was, not great. I took a couple bites and left it alone. The cranberry bread was decent. I was a bit surprised by how often refills were offered. I must have had 4 cups of sparkling water throughout dinner. Meal service wrapped up 90 minutes after take-off, which was not bad considering I was seated in the last row of the cabin.
After a movie, I was able to get some legitimately decent sleep in this spacious recliner. I slept through breakfast and woke up to a rainbow cabin.
Norse Atlantic Airways B787-9 Premium Class Cabin
On Arrival:
Honestly, what a pleasant flight. Aside from its value proposition, I think the biggest selling point of Norse premium was its seat. The food and the amenities were definitely more economy than premium economy, but so was the price. The service was professional and friendly. If you’re looking for the best bang for your buck to cross the pond, I can’t recommend Norse Atlantic enough. And I would so easily choose it over the legacy carriers if I have to fly premium economy again (which hopefully is never but life is unpredictable).