JetBlue will begin flying daily to Mexico City from Boston
and New York Kennedy on Oct. 25.
The flights will augment JetBlue's existing Mexico City
service from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. On the Boston route, JetBlue will
compete with the Delta-Aeromexico joint venture. On the New York route, JetBlue
will compete against Volaris, Interjet and Delta-Aeromexico.
JetBlue is able to launch the new Mexico City routes due to
the Department of Transportation's decision to require Delta and Aeromexico to
divest of 24 daily landing rights at Mexico City's capacity-constrained Benito
Juarez Airport in exchange for joint venture approval last year.
Delta and Aeromexico launched their antitrust-immune
partnership last year.
"We thank the DOT for requiring slot divestiture at
Mexico City so as to foster more choices for the traveling public,"
JetBlue general counsel James Hnat said in prepared remarks. "More than
ever, it is crucially important that federal regulators continue to address
competition concerns at slot-restricted airports and take steps to assist
carriers like JetBlue with securing meaningful access to restricted markets."
JetBlue fly Airbus A320 aircraft on the routes.