British Airways-owner IAG said it would start low-cost long-haul flights from Barcelona to US destinations in June next year, in an apparent response to increasing budget competition on transatlantic routes.

The move comes after a summer in which low-cost airlines, led by Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, have shaken up the Europe to North America travel market by offering ticket prices as little as half what rivals charge.

IAG’s budget airline brand Vueling uses Barcelona El Prat as a hub, and IAG said yesterday that Vueling passengers could feed into its long-haul flights at the airport, adding that it had not yet decided whether to set up a new airline or use existing resources from its airlines.

Destinations being considering for the long-haul plan are Los Angeles, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Havana and Tokyo, IAG said.

That could bring the airline group into direct competition with fast-expanding Norwegian which is due to start budget flights between Barcelona and Los Angeles and San Francisco from next summer.

Analysts at CAPA Centre for Aviation said it looked like IAG was reacting to Norwegian’s move.

“Plans by the low-cost carrier Norwegian to launch long-haul routes from Barcelona in 2017 may have had a catalytic effect on IAG’s thinking,” they said.

CAPA analysts said IAG could use Aer Lingus planes as an initial platform for the long-haul plan as that airline was the lowest cost long-haul operator in its portfolio of brands.