It is always a special moment when a new airline starts serving a destination and this will be the case at Paris CDG from this summer with the arrival of jetBlue with two routes: one to New York JFK, the other to Boston
jetBlue, the low-cost airline that has everything of a major
If you have noticed that low cost airlines are not really our cup of tea, there are some that we watch with real interest and jetBlue is one of them.
Created in 1999 (under the brand NewAir ) jetBlue is an American low cost airline, the 7th largest in the country in terms of number of passengers carried. But what distinguishes it from its peers, like Southwest for example, is the level of services it has offered from the beginning with TV in every seat or satellite radio and in terms of customer experience and image it is an airline with an excellent reputation.
Initially confined to the North American market, it has begun to gradually serve Europe from 2021 with a fleet of A321LR (long range) aircrafts. After London, its first destination, it has just announced that it will serve Paris from the summer of 2023, first from New York and a little later Boston.
In 2022, and despite all the criticisms we have of this ranking, which we advise to take with caution, it is ranked 42nd worldwide by Skytrax, which is quite good for a low cost airline and 4th in North America (ahead of Air Canada, United and American Airlines) and has 3 Skytrax stars but once had 4.
Why ? Because there is nothing low-cost about the jetBlue product, especially in long-haul.
The jetBlue product
The jetBlue A321LRs offer 114 seats in Economy, including 24 with increased legroom, and are all equipped with 10.1-inch high-definition screens. The legroom is among the best of any airline operating transatlantic flights (37 to 41 inches compared to 32 on an Air France 777-300ER or 31 on the same aircraft at United).
But what sets jetBlue apart is its business class, called Mint. It is composed of 22 Mint Suites and 2 Mint Studio Suites in 1-1 configuration.
The 22 Mint Suites have a sliding door for total privacy.
On the first row, the 2 Mint Studio Suites offer even more space, have two windows, a 22″ TV and offer one of the largest beds available on an American airline.
Did you say Low Cost? We believe that jetBlue is in the middle ground between the low cost and the legacies, trying to combine the cost structure of the former and to offer a product as successful as the latter. This can be seen in the fares, which are not particularly low on long-haul routes. A kind of “boutique airline”?
Anyway, this airline is not well known by the French public who will certainly discover it with interest.
What impact will the arrival of jetBlue in Paris have?
We are delighted that jetBlue has arrived in Paris, not only because the airline offers an excellent product, but also because more competition often means more competitive prices.
Afterwards, we will have to see once the flights are commercialized. Comparing prices from two different airports often doesn’t make much sense, but when searching for an August flight to New York, jetBlue from London is no more competitive on the lowest prices than Air France from Paris. Wait and See.
Bottom line
The low cost jetBlue will serve Paris from New York and Boston starting this summer. If this is excellent news given the excellent product it offers, we are waiting to see how competitive it will be, or not, on prices.
Anyway, we are eager to try.
Image : Jetblue by Markus Mainka via Shutterstock
