It is finally, finally, finally official. JetBlue will fly to Europe from its hubs in Boston and New York City starting in 2021. London will be the first city served, though which airport was not part of the announcement. President and COO Joanna Geraghty indicated that 13 of the pending A321neo orders will convert to the A321LR type to support the new service.
Geraghty also left open the potential for other European markets, teasing Amsterdam, Dublin, Lisbon, Madrid, and Paris as within the correct range for JetBlue’s plans.
As with prior discussions of the topic, JetBlue is calling out “obscene fares” in the Transatlantic market and planning to act as a “disruptor” in the market.
“London is the largest metro area JetBlue doesn’t yet serve from both Boston and New York, and we could not be more thrilled to be changing that in the years ahead. The fares being charged today by airlines on these routes, specifically on the premium end, are enough to make you blush.”
– Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue President and COO
In addition to confirming the new destination the company confirmed that a new Mint product will be part of the service launch. Geraghty described it as “feeling like your flying private to London, on JetBlue,” in the presentation to crewmembers. The new layout will also feature an expanded Mint cabin compared to the existing layout.
While the company did not offer additional details in today’s announcement the Airbus Cabin Flex configuration of the A321LR could combine nicely with the Thompson Aero Vantage Solo seat to deliver that experience on board. PaxEx.Aero first suggested this as the likely seating option earlier this week; others have since echoed that view, though not confirmation yet.
Read More: Musing on Mint v2
While the London news drew plenty of cheers during the event there were other routes also announced. JetBlue hopes to fly to Guayaquil, Ecuador and Georgetown, Guyana from JFK in the next couple years. The former seems to be something of a done deal while the latter still needs some work.
A favor to ask while you're here...
Did you enjoy the content? Or learn something useful? Or generally just think this is the type of story you'd like to see more of? Consider supporting the site through a donation (any amount helps). It helps keep me independent and avoiding the credit card schlock.
Did you actually write “A specific airport is not yet specified?”
It would seem I did. I’ve never denied that I could use the help of an editor. 🙂
Exciting times for JetBlue, looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
In the US, it’s lobbying hard for Delta, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Air France to be forced to sacrifice slots at London Heathrow in return for allowing their expanded joint venture to be approved. London Gatwick is the second choice but slots are still not easy there.
Maybe they’ll surprise everyone and fly an A220 to LCY in an all Mint config? I know it won’t happen but it would be awesome.
That would have to be the -100, not the -300, I believe. The plane can make the trip; it already did it once as a demo flight. But I don’t think JetBlue is ready to play that game. Yet.
Also, the first A220s for JetBlue will not have any real premium seating on board.