Due to a combination of new and existing flights, weekly non-stop services will go up to a record 98 with 28,119 seats in July, an 18% increase from 83 with 23,963 seats in 2019. 

Delta – which relaunched its Heathrow-LAX service on 26 March after an eight-year hiatus – is currently offering daily flights to Los Angeles for a total of 1,967 seats available each week. 

Norse will instead launch its first ever London-Los Angeles route on 30 June, operating seven weekly flights from Gatwick with 2,366 overall seats.

The airline’s commercial director, Bard Nordhagen, said the Gatwick-LAX launch will “offer better value and choice to customers”.

“Our new direct services between London Gatwick and LAX, operated by our modern fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, will allow more people to visit this fantastic destination,” he said.

The Norwegian and US carriers are not the only ones to cater to customers flying to California, as existing airlines such as American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic are expected to ramp up operations.

American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic will respectively add nine and seven weekly flights to their roster, while United Airlines will double its services to 14. 

“We are delighted that UK and Ireland travellers have more opportunities to travel to Los Angeles than ever before, thanks to new service from Delta and Norse as well as increased services from existing carriers,” added Francine Sheridan, vice-president for Europe and the Middle East at Los Angeles Tourism.

“Los Angeles is a year-round destination with the enduring appeal of world-famous attractions.”