JetBlue plans to continue its gradual transatlantic expansion with a trio of new flights next year, including service to Dublin, Ireland and Edinburgh, Scotland.
JetBlue Plans Service To Ireland + Scotland
JetBlue launched transatlantic flights in 2021 with service to London and this year added service to Paris and Amsterdam. Next year, it will add service to Dublin and Edinburgh as well.
Three new routes were announced yesterday.
JetBlue New York – Dublin Service
Seasonal service between New York (JFK) and Dublin (DUB) will run from March 13, 2024 through September 30, 2024. Flights will operate daily and utilize an Airbus A321neo featuring:
- 16 “Mint” Business Class seats
- 144 “Core” Economy Class seats
The flight will operate according to the following schedule:
- B6841 // New York – Dublin // dep 9:30PM arr 8:15AM+1 // 6 hours, 45 minutes
- B6842 // Dublin – New York // dep 11:45AM arri 3:25PM // 7 hours, 40 minutes
JetBlue Boston – Dublin Service
Seasonal service between Boston (BOS) and Dublin (DUB) will run from March 13, 2024 through September 30, 2024. The same A321neo aircraft will be utilized as from JFK.
The flight will operate according to the following schedule:
- B6353 // Boston – Dublin // dep 10:30PM arr 8:45AM+1 // 6 hours, 15 minutes
- B6354 // Dublin – Boston // dep 11:30AM arr 2:45PM // 7 hours, 15 minutes
JetBlue New York – Edinburgh Service
Seasonal service between New York (JFK) and Edinburgh (EDI) will run from May 22, 2024 through September 30, 2024. Flights will operate daily and utilize an Airbus A321neo.
The flight will operate according to the following schedule:
- B673 // New York – Edinburgh // dep 10:15PM arr 10:25AM+1 // 7 hours, 10 minutes
- B672 // Edinburgh – New York // dep 12:30PM arr 3:15PM // 7 hours, 45 minutes
JetBlue Increases Paris Service
In addition to the new routes, JetBlue will increase service to Paris by launching year-around service from Boston and going double daily from New York.
The Boston – Paris flight will operate according to the following schedule:
- B633 // Boston – Paris // dep 7:30PM arr 9:15AM+1 // 7 hours, 45 minutes
- B634 // Paris – Boston // dep 11:15AM arr 1:41PM // 8 hours, 26 minutes
This service will launch on April 3, 2024.
The New York – Paris flight will operate according to the following schedule:
- B61907 // New York – Paris // dep 9:50PM arr 11:35AM // 7 hours, 45 minutes
- B61908 // Paris – New York // dep 1:35PM arr 4:01PM // 8 hours, 26 minutes
Paris flights will operate with JetBlue’s Airbus A321 Long Range (LR) aircraft, featuring:
- 24 Mint suites
- 114 Core seats
Fare Sale
Fares on these new routes starting at $1,999 in Mint Business Class and $399 in Core Economy Class and are available for purchase now.
Will JetBlue Find Transatlantic Success?
We are not privy to how JetBlue has been performing on its existing transatlantic routes, but the new routes will certainly be attractive to JetBlue loyalists and point-to-point travelers.
But despite Delta’s robust Northeast route network, the lack connectivity of beyond Dublin and Edinburgh and the infrequency of the service (once daily and only during the summer season) call into the question the long-term viability of the strategy.
Some suggested that AerLingus broke off its relationship with United Airlines because it plans to cozy up to American Airlines, but I wonder if it might cozy up to JetBlue as well (or instead)?
Im very happy to see JetBlue add more international service, but its poor financial performance must be critically addressed and it is not clear if these new routes will ultimately help a business model that is seems unable to decide on a prevailing strategy.
Finally, JetBlue needs lounges…that is a fundamental part of the premium cabin proposition.
CONCLUSION
JetBlue is adding service to Dublin, Ireland and Edinburgh, Scotland in 2024. The new routes are already for sale and currently discounted. As JetBlue looks for ways to grow profitably, it is increasingly looking across the pond.
image: JetBlue
They have plenty of connecting service on the US side though + these routes are high demand point to point themselves. I just priced up Edinburgh – Orlando for example which is a very busy route in the Scottish school holiday and the pricing and timing is competitive vs other one stop options
Whether or not this is a profitable way of using brand new low density A321s is a question mark for me though – international routes aren’t cheap to operate once you add in crew hotels etc.
Once daily doesn’t seem that infrequent to me- the likes of easyJet have plenty of routes running 2-3 times a week from places like EDI and BHX with no problems attracting business travellers- if their meetings etc don’t go to plan, they can either write the ticket off or pay the change fee to travel to another destination (e.g. GLA or LTN). The really high yield business traffic from banking etc would probably stick to BA or KL for the miles and lounges.
It seems to me that BOS is an excellent connecting point from much of the US to European flights such as this. Geographically, it’s the best use for Boston as a hub = as Boston is the closest US city to Europe. OTOH, JFK (to me, at least) would seem to be a hellhole as a connecting hub. Congested, flight delays, cancellations, etc. But, the NY Metro area is such as huge market that it could probably sustain this service without any reliance on connecting travelers.
FWIW, the BOS area locals may well fill those flights to DUB without help as that’s a very popular destination from that region.
Once a day is fine for the summer months for DUB & EDI. May want to have 2x or 3x during the winter if demand is sufficient. Also, B6 is using NEO jets (not LR) on these routes. Such jets can be re-deployed to transcontinental or Caribbean service in the winter.
As alluded to above, B6 needs to work on its connections. Northeast air corridor is god awful mess right now. Why make a connection in JFK or BOS when the chance of missing your Euro connection are high with B6. Partners are more willing to throw PAX your way if connections are solid which is a revenue source that B6 needs now to reach sustained profitability.
Still no connection from where I live, so the chances of me flying this is about zero.
It’s good that they’re expanding but maybe build up their domestic network before doing all this? Their product seems good but not good enough for me to book positioning flights
JetBlue Euro service originating from MSY is just as bad.
Looks like I’ll stick with AA or DL for Euro service.
It appears these aircraft, unlike JetBlue’s 321LR have no ovens in the rear galley, hence only cold meals to be served in the main cabin. If so, this may well be a serious fault in their plans.
Can ovens be retrofitted overnight?
This will be interesting to watch.
I suspect JetBlue will do very well with Edinburgh which is underserved and badly and there is business to pick up from both north and south of there.
Dublin will be a different matter. Aer Lingus are really ahead of the game here and have a very strong presence in their home market and among those of Irish descent overseas. Aer Lingus now also have a pretty comphrensive offering to the US and are well established in the market and while they use their A21Ns for a significant part of that, the A330 serves both Boston and New York so potentially more attractive. Where JetBlue might win is on service because even in business class Aer Lingus is pretty basic and in economy, it’s horrible where they aspire to offer less than Ryanair.