JetBlue complains it is being locked out of London slots

JetBlue Airways has complained to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) that it is being locked out of securing slots in London for its planned transatlantic expansion. In a filing with the DOT on 19 January, the New-York-based low-cost carrier accuses the UK government of protecting airlines which currently have slots at the two major international airports in London but are not using them, thus creating a barrier to new market entrants. “JetBlue continues to face slot uncertainty as a result of the United Kingdom’s decision to delay addressing crucial matters affecting slots at London-area airports including both London Heathrow Airport and London Gatwick Airport,” the US carrier writes. ”At [Heathrow], existing slot holders have reduced services at a scale previously unimaginable while new entrants like JetBlue remain locked out.” The airline specifically mentions Virgin Atlantic, which is no longer operating from Gatwick, and Norwegian Air, which last week announced that it was ceasing long-haul transatlantic operations. Both airlines have, however, been permitted to keep their slots at the two London airfields. “At the same time, carriers like JetBlue, poised to enter the transatlantic market and disrupt the status quo and fulfil a crucial need for low-cost carrier transatlantic service, are unable to sufficiently secure [Heathrow] slots or consistently timed [Gatwick] slots because of the fiction that carriers are going to return to the pre-Covid-19 status quo,” the airline says. “They are not, and the UK government needs to address this reality immediately,” JetBlue writes.<br/>