JetBlue will push back its planned launch of London service,
but still intends to compete in the transatlantic market.
Though it hadn’t set specific dates, JetBlue had planned to
begin flying to London from Boston and New York in 2021. The carrier had also
said it planned to fly to continental Europe starting in 2023.
Speaking during JetBlue’s first-quarter earnings call last
week, CEO Robin Hayes said the Covid-19 crisis will push the launch back,
though he didn’t specify for how long.
“The market will recover at some point,” Hayes said. “And I
think that the need for us to enter that market and bring more competition is
still as relevant in the future as it was in the past.”
In an email Monday, JetBlue spokesman Philip Stewart said
the carrier doesn’t plan to push the London launch beyond the end of 2021.
JetBlue indicated it would sell business-class tickets well
below the prices charged by major alliance carriers.
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This report corrects an earlier version that said JetBlue
would delay the London launch until after 2021.