JetBlue teases new European destination, brings back 2 seasonal ones — and plays coy on 'Junior Mint' cabin rumors

20.11.2024 - 14:21 / thepointsguy.com / John F.Kennedy / Joanna Geraghty / Marty St George / St George

After three straight years of breakneck growth across the Atlantic Ocean, JetBlue pumped the brakes on its expansion to Europe this winter. But it appears the carrier could soon announce its newest overseas destination.

"I think we'll probably see at least one more European destination next year," JetBlue president Marty St. George predicted, speaking last week at an aviation industry conference in Dallas.

That would be notable considering the New York-based carrier has, in recent months, pulled back a bit on its transatlantic schedule — at least, for the colder months.

As part of a larger network shake-up this year, JetBlue just cut its wintertime flying to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) and scaled back in Paris. Instead, the carrier is sending more of its Mint-equipped Airbus jets to popular warm-weather destinations like San Juan, Puerto Rico; Phoenix; and Las Vegas during the off-peak months in Europe.

It was JetBlue's first real pullback in Europe after adding five destinations there — its first five ever — over the past three years.

All year, in fact, JetBlue executives have signaled the carrier's future European expansion would be more measured — or "opportunistic," as CEO Joanna Geraghty put it when I spoke with her this spring.

None of that, though, is to say that the airline is done adding new overseas destinations to its network.

After all, there are additional, popular European cities that JetBlue's longest-range Airbus A321 aircraft could conceivably reach from its hubs at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).

And JetBlue continues to see its across-the-pond service as a key part of its recipe for success, even as the carrier has doubled down on its East Coast leisure roots.

"Europe's been a very important market for us, and especially for loyalty. There's a lot of pent-up demand for our customers to fly to Europe," Christopher Buckner, JetBlue's vice president of loyalty programs and partnerships, said when speaking to TPG in September.

To Buckner's point, JetBlue recently announced a deal-sweetener for high-paying travelers flying to Europe: Transatlantic Mint passengers will get complimentary access to the airline's first-ever airport lounges at JFK and BOS that are planned to open beginning in late 2025.

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At the same time, don't expect to see JetBlue's nonstop Europe route map balloon too much more in the next few years. The airline's future aircraft delivery plans are limiting on that front, St. George said, noting the airline expects delivery of two long-range Airbus A321XLR jets in 2025. Beyond that, though, no long-range aircraft are slated to join the