JetBlue ready to launch low-cost New York to London flights
On 11 August, JetBlue will launch transatlantic flights that could rattle one of aviation’s normally most lucrative markets. The airline, one of the biggest in America but without the global presence of the “big four” US carriers, will launch its first services to the UK with the promise of driving down fares, particularly for the business traveller. It sounds a gamble but the CE, Robin Hayes, a Briton himself, stressed his airline was nothing like rival carriers, which promised to bring low fares to the transatlantic; Norwegian, for example, which went from minnow to global pioneer to bankruptcy on a similar offer. “It’s very different to Norwegian,” said Hayes. “We’re flying a plane we’ve always flown, and a third of our capacity is already international, to 25 countries. This is really just a very small step for us.” Where Norwegian pinned its hopes to a swiftly grown fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, JetBlue will cross the Atlantic in a single-aisle, narrow-body plane, the Airbus A321LR. That means fewer seats, but even lower costs. While other airlines generally use the model to maximise the number of economy seats in a single cabin, JetBlue will have an innovative layout including 24 seats in its version of business class, known as Mint. The small cabin arguably lends an even greater cachet for these seats: with just two per row, all have aisle access and their own sliding door for privacy. And Hayes claimed that the prices would be far below what rivals charge for business class, starting at less than $2,000 for a round trip from the US. “Fares will come down across the board,” said Hayes.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-08-02/unaligned/jetblue-ready-to-launch-low-cost-new-york-to-london-flights
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JetBlue ready to launch low-cost New York to London flights
On 11 August, JetBlue will launch transatlantic flights that could rattle one of aviation’s normally most lucrative markets. The airline, one of the biggest in America but without the global presence of the “big four” US carriers, will launch its first services to the UK with the promise of driving down fares, particularly for the business traveller. It sounds a gamble but the CE, Robin Hayes, a Briton himself, stressed his airline was nothing like rival carriers, which promised to bring low fares to the transatlantic; Norwegian, for example, which went from minnow to global pioneer to bankruptcy on a similar offer. “It’s very different to Norwegian,” said Hayes. “We’re flying a plane we’ve always flown, and a third of our capacity is already international, to 25 countries. This is really just a very small step for us.” Where Norwegian pinned its hopes to a swiftly grown fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, JetBlue will cross the Atlantic in a single-aisle, narrow-body plane, the Airbus A321LR. That means fewer seats, but even lower costs. While other airlines generally use the model to maximise the number of economy seats in a single cabin, JetBlue will have an innovative layout including 24 seats in its version of business class, known as Mint. The small cabin arguably lends an even greater cachet for these seats: with just two per row, all have aisle access and their own sliding door for privacy. And Hayes claimed that the prices would be far below what rivals charge for business class, starting at less than $2,000 for a round trip from the US. “Fares will come down across the board,” said Hayes.<br/>
