Thinking of Flying JetBlue’s New NYC to Paris Route? Here’s What It’s Really Like

25.07.2023 - 10:11 / afar.com / John F.Kennedy / Robin Hayes

JetBlue’s inaugural flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) took off last week, marking the low-cost airline’s first transatlantic flight route to continental Europe. The new route follows the successful launch of JetBlue’s first transatlantic flights between JFK and London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports in 2021 and is part of the airline’s growing effort to disrupt transatlantic air travel by offering lower airfares on narrow-body aircraft—at a time when international airfares are soaring.

“We’re here to shake up the market just as we did in London. We’re here to bring an outstanding product at low fares,” Robin Hayes, JetBlue’s CEO, said at the ribbon-cutting event that took place at JFK on June 29 before the inaugural flight boarded. “We compete against a very high-fare legacy joint venture with a lot of flights. So it’s not easy, but we’re going to do our part to . . . make it more competitive.”

I was among the first passengers who flew in Mint business class on JetBlue’s inaugural flight to Charles de Gaulle and in its “Even More Space” economy plus cabin on the return trip home. Overall, the experience was fun, seamless, and very comfortable. Here’s everything you need to know about JetBlue’s first flights to Paris.

As of June 29, JetBlue flight 1407 takes off daily from New York–JFK at 5:09 p.m. and lands the following morning at Paris-CDG at 6:55 a.m. for a flight time of 7 hours and 41 minutes. For those flying from CDG to JFK, the daily JetBlue flight 1408 departs at 8:55 a.m. and lands at JFK the same morning by 11:51 a.m. local time for a total of just under 8.5 hours in the air.

JetBlue also plans to launch nonstop flights between Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) and CDG in 2024, but has yet to announce specific dates or schedules for this route. (JetBlue flights to Amsterdam from both JFK and Boston are launching later in 2023, too.)

JetBlue flies new A321LR planes on its transatlantic routes.

Courtesy of JetBlue

The flights are being operated on JetBlue’s Airbus A321LR (long range) planes that can fly on routes up to 4,600 miles. Though these planes look similar to the single-aisle A321 with Mint planes that JetBlue flies on its transcontinental routes, the A321LR planes that JetBlue flies on its transatlantic routes are configured differently to offer more business-class seats that are more spacious and private, too.

On these A321LR planes, there are 90 “core” or economy seats and 24 “Even More Space” or economy plus seats in a three by three configuration, plus 22 private Mint Suites and 2 Mint Studios in the first row of the plane—which come with slightly larger TVs plus a seat and table for a guest—in