JetBlue’s eagerly awaited transatlantic debut is being pushed back due to the pandemic.
JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes told Bloomberg the launch of London flights will be delayed until later in 2021 at least.
The airline fist announced plans to fly across the Pond more than a year ago.
It had announced London flights from New York and Boston, but few other details, or even to which London airport it would fly to.
At the time it said it would deploy new Airbus A321LR aircraft on the routes. These planes still haven’t been delivered yet.
"It’s going to be later in 2021 than we originally thought I don’t want to put an exact date on that because we don’t even have the airplane yet. That’s coming early next year, but I think my expectation is that in some point in quarter three we’ll launch."
Covid-19 has decimated transatlantic travel and Europe is still off-limits to most Americans.
When the market opens up again, it could look very different.
"I still expect leisure demand between the US and Europe to recover at some point in 2021. A lot of people have been putting off trips that they want to take, so I actually think our timing is quite good," Hayes added.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US editor
