JetBlue, which has long been planning to spread its U.S. and Caribbean wings to Europe has cleared the last regulatory hurdle to begin flights between its U.S. hubs at New York and Boston and London with the issuance of a ‘foreign carrier permit’ by the UK.
Although JetBlue’s London dreams are several years old, the moment may be auspicious for them to enter the market now; once restrictions ease over the next months, demand is expected to be high, and a significant low-cost competitor is gone from the market with the collapse of Norwegian Air last year. JetBlue’s business plan, a a low-cost but not ultra low-cost, calls for taking chunks of market share from both ends.
Once JetBlue makes its final plans, which could come at any day, it will announce which London airports it will serve and can begin selling tickets. After complaining it was being frozen out of slots at Heathrow, it was granted a slice, but it is still unclear whether those are permanent; the airline also has slots reserved at Gatwick for its new A321XLR planes.
Incidentally, JetBlue’s certificate was the first issued by the UK in nearly fifty years; from 1973 on, certificates were issued by the European Union, and JetBlue is the first post-Brexit applicant.
