JetBlue is going after traditional airlines serving the transatlantic market with a new route to Paris starting at $479, undercutting both Delta and American
Courtesy of JetBlue
- JetBlue is launching a new New York to Paris route in June, with tickets starting at $479.
- The route is part of JetBlue's expansion into Europe after it started flying into London in 2021.
- The Airbus A321 LR, a narrow and more efficient aircraft, is making the offering possible.
JetBlue is doubling down on its cheap flights to Europe.
Two years after launching its service to London, the airline has announced tickets starting at $479 from New York to Paris, round-trip.
The cheapest fares for both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines' round-trip from New York to Paris currently available are over $600, according to the travel website Expedia. Fares at the of June 2023, when JetBlue will start flying to Paris, currently start at $1082 across all other airlines.
The Mint seats, JetBlue's version of business class, will start at $1,899.
The fares are to celebrate the new route launch. When JetBlue debuted its new New York-London Heathrow flights in August 2021, fares started at $202, while they currently cost around $559 roundtrip, according to Expedia. The lower Paris fares will likely follow a similar path.
The announcement is part of JetBlue's transatlantic expansion with its fleet of Airbus A321 Long Range. The aircraft is Airbus' largest single-aisle plane, smaller and more efficient than the widebody planes that usually operate usual transatlantic flights.
After announcing flights from New York to London Heathrow in August 2021, JetBlue launched a connection between New York and a second London airport, Gatwick, in September of the same year. In 2022, it started connecting Boston and London.
Courtesy of JetBlue
"We see an opportunity out of New York and Boston to fly to a number of European markets, and we are confidently progressing with those plans," JetBlue's chief executive officer Robin Hayes said in an earnings report call in October of 2022. In the call, Hayes underlined the advantages of JetBlue's Mint offering, stating that it appeals to "a segment that has been grossly overcharged and gauged by legacy carriers for many years."
JetBlue unveiled its Mint experience, with fully enclosed seats, in February 2021.
JetBlue is not the only airline to count on for a cheap ticket to Paris. In November 2022, Norwegian low-cost start-up Norse Atlantic started selling tickets with a one-way starting price of $159 on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The first flight will take off at the end of March.