JetBlue to offer flights to London from New York and Boston

After a long thought, JetBlue leaps forward on the other side of the pond.

JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes announced Wednesday that the airline plans to fly to London from New York and Boston in 2021.

Hayes said customers wanted the service, which would strengthen JetBlue in key Northeast markets. The airline has not chosen London airport that it will use.

JetBlue shares rose 58 cents, or 3.6%, to $ 16.92, anticipating the widespread announcement.

The CEO made it official at a rally of employees at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

JetBlue executives have been talking about the possibility of flights to Europe since mid-2016, around the time they announced their intention to modify their Airbus orders to obtain a longer radius aircraft. action.

According to Hayes, the airline has waited for the right aircraft to arrive, a single aisle aircraft offering significant autonomy to avoid the use of more expensive aircraft at two aisles or wider.

JetBlue will convert an existing order to Airbus for the acquisition of 13 A321LR jets. They will be equipped in the same way as JetBlue's Airbus aircraft operate on transcontinental routes, but with more extended seats in the premium cabin, which the airline calls Mint.

"This opens up a number of markets that have not traditionally been served in this way," Hayes said in an interview. "You can anticipate on other European destinations – it puts cities like Dublin and perhaps Amsterdam within reach."

The transatlantic market is very competitive. The three largest US carriers cross the Atlantic as part of revenue sharing agreements with major European carriers – American Airlines has an agreement with British Airways and Iberia; United Airlines teams up with Lufthansa in Germany; and Delta Air Lines has partnerships with Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic.

Delta seemed to want to launch a major challenge last week when it joined Virgin Atlantic and announced its intention to serve London Gatwick Airport from New York and Boston sometime in 2020 – the details were rare.

Hayes thinks it's possible for JetBlue to cut costs for its biggest rivals, as it charges exorbitant prices. He stated that he could offer considerably lower business clbad fares and incorporate amenities such as live TV and more legroom in the economy to stimulate new demand.

Delta Chairman Glen Hauenstein said his airline has seen other low-cost airlines try to compete on the other side of the Atlantic.

"There are always new entrants arriving and there are still entrants leaving," he said, adding that he thought Delta was "very well placed".

JetBlue has a lot of work to do before the first pbadenger can board. First, it requires the approval of the Federal Aviation Administration to be able to perform long flights over water with twin-engine jets.

Southwest Airlines took much longer than expected to obtain this approval for flights between California and Hawaii. JetBlue has hired industry veterans with experience of the FAA process, and it will call for outside help, Hayes said.

JetBlue plans to limit London flights to approximately 1 or 1.5% of its daily departures. It is not an immediate plan to serve London beyond New York and Boston, Hayes said.

___

David Koenig can be contacted at http://twitter.com/airlinewriter