JetBlue intends to launch nonstop service between New York John F Kennedy (JFK) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) during the summer 2023 season, and later plans to add flights to the French capital from Boston (BOS).
The routes will operate using Airbus A321LRs, an aircraft that is allowing the carrier to tap into new long-haul markets that were not previously accessible with its existing fleet. The start dates and flight schedules for the Paris services are still to be confirmed.
“JetBlue is offering something completely unique to what you get from the big global legacy airlines on these routes—where a single high-fare joint venture operates nearly three-quarters of the flying,” said JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes, who told Routes in June that Paris would likely be the airline’s second European destination.
JetBlue’s entrance to the transatlantic market began in August 2021 with flights from JFK to London Heathrow (LHR) using slots that had become temporarily available. Service to London Gatwick (LGW) began the following month.
After winning approval to continue using the temporary Heathrow slots during the summer 2022 season, JetBlue has since secured the slots permanently, saying the move guarantees its “long-term future at the iconic global hub.”
OAG data shows that the airline currently serves Heathrow daily from JFK and Boston, as well as providing double-daily flights from JFK to Gatwick and a daily service from Boston.
The New York-Paris market is currently served by six airlines, with Air France offering 6X-daily flights between CDG and JFK. Delta Air Lines serves the route 2X-daily and American Airlines 5X-weekly. In addition, United Airlines flies CDG-Newark (EWR) daily, while French Bee and La Compagnie offer a 4X-weekly and 6X-weekly service respectively between Paris Orly (ORY) and Newark.
Overall weekly capacity between Paris and New York stands at 43,816 two-way seats. This compares with 44,412 during the same week in 2019.
According to OAG figures, New York-Paris is the second-largest US-Europe city pair by weekly capacity, behind New York-London which has about 105,000 two-way seats available at the present time.
JetBlue’s entry to the Paris market comes as the city prepares to host the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024.
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