JetBlue is launching service to Paris from JFK and Boston
- JetBlue looks to disrupt United, Delta, and American with the expanded European service.
- New European routes from JetBlue, United, and Delta tap into pent-up demand for overseas travel.
JetBlue Airways plans to launch service to Paris from New York and Boston in a bid to expand its European presence, disrupt US legacy airlines, and tap into pent-up demand for overseas travel.
The carrier announced on Wednesday that non-stop flights between New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport would begin summer 2023.
Non-stop service between Boston Logan International Airport and CDG will be added at a later date.
The move effectively doubles JetBlue's transatlantic presence following the 2021 launch of service to London from New York and Boston. JetBlue has ordered 26 Airbus A321 long-range aircraft to help handle its European expansion.
France is on track to welcome 75 million visitors this year with travel trends to the world's most visited country expected to remain strong in 2023, according to JetBlue.
In pre-pandemic 2019, the lucrative transatlantic travel market accounted for 11% to 17% of passenger revenues at United, Delta, and American airlines, according to Reuters.
JetBlue joins the rush to reconnect US cities to Europe after pandemic-induced route reductions. United and Delta have each announced new and returning European routes starting next year.
Spirit Airlines stockholders voted in October to accept JetBlue's $3.8 billion merger offer that would create the fifth-largest carrier in the United States. The JetBlue agreement followed Spirit's cancellation of a proposed merger deal with Frontier.