With skies still quiet, airlines battle over lucrative transatlantic routes

The skies over the north Atlantic are still unusually empty. But a new battle for a share of some of the busiest and most lucrative flight paths in the world is already under way. US airline JetBlue defied the aviation crisis by launching its first transatlantic service this week, promising to spark a price war with rivals including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Fares for return trips start at GBP329 in economy and GBP999 in business class, significantly cheaper than many rivals. Within hours of the inaugural flight landing under cloudy skies at London’s Heathrow airport, JetBlue’s British CE Robin Hayes was trumpeting victory over the “very high fares” of his rivals. Hayes said prices have fallen across the board since his airline announced its pricing plans in May, and took credit for it. “I am 100 per cent certain it is because of JetBlue,” he said. But JetBlue is not the only airline gambling that passengers will rush back once US and UK travel restrictions are fully lifted. Norwegian start-up Norse Atlantic Airways this week said it expected to have a fleet of 15 planes flying across the Atlantic by next summer, while Aer Lingus has secured approval to start flights between Manchester and the US. Transatlantic flights are the crown jewel in global aviation. Worth an estimated $9b a year in revenue before the pandemic, established airlines have relied on them for a steady stream of corporate customers and wealthy holidaymakers willing to pay high prices to sit in premium class seats. This lucrative air corridor has attracted ambitious new entrants since Freddie Laker’s Skytrain burst on to the market in the late 1970s.<br/>