Travelers looking for cheap flights to Europe got a dose of good news on Thursday: JetBlue announced that it’s launching new routes from the East Coast to Paris in summer 2023.
The airline plans to first launch flights to Paris from its home-base in New York, flying nonstop from John F. Kennedy International airport into Paris’s Charles de Gaulle. Later, JetBlue also plans to add nonstop flights from Boston Logan International airport to Charles de Gaulle.
With the debut of the Paris flights, JetBlue will mark its second transatlantic destination. In 2021 it introduced much-anticipated routes to London, also from New York and Boston. The market for flights between the U.S. and France is the second biggest in the world, according to a release from the airline, and France is on track to see 75 million tourists by the end of 2022.
The new flights are sure to be a boon to deal-seeking fliers on the East Coast, where traditionally few affordable Paris route options exist. “JetBlue is offering something completely unique to what you get from the big global legacy airlines on these routes—where a single high-fare joint venture operates nearly three-quarters of the flying,” Robin Hayes, JetBlue’s CEO, said in a statement on Thursday. “The response to our London service is proof that combining great service with low fares works.” Although prices haven't been released yet, fares on the airline's route from New York to London typically start at around $599 round-trip for regular economy.
In addition to low fares, JetBlue’s signature in-flight perks will be available on the route, using Airbus A321 long-range aircraft to operate its flights to Paris. The planes will feature JetBlue’s revamped “Core” class, an economy cabin with 114 seats that offers the airline’s signature perks like free in-flight Wi-Fi and free live TV, power outlets at every seat (AC and USB-C), extra-large overhead bins, roomy seats that are 18.4 inches wide, and a new build-your-own-meal food service where travelers can customize their meal from their seat-back screen, mixing and matching their entrees and side dishes as they see fit.
Of course, travelers looking for a more premium experience can book into JetBlue’s Mint business-class cabin, which features 24 individual suites with fully closing doors, lie-flat seats with a foam mattress cover and bedding from Tuft & Needle, and that offers hand-crafted cocktails and tapas-style appetizers from New York’s Delicious Hospitality Group, the restaurateurs behind popular Manhattan restaurants like Charlie Bird and Legacy Records. Two of the suites are Mint studios—mega suites with extra-large beds and enough space for passengers to dine with a guest during meal service.
The airline, which is the U.S.’s sixth largest carrier, says the Paris routes are part of a larger strategy to increase its relevance in the Northeastern U.S., as well as part of a plan to service popular routes that its customers most frequently request. Tickets for the new Paris flights will go on sale in the coming months.
