JetBlue has announced it wants to serve Amsterdam.
But no dates or anything useful. Why?
Slots of luck. Or not as the case may be
Like any high-demand airport, slots are the crux of the issue – the ability to land and take off an aircraft. And JetBlue has been petitioning for the use of slots vacated by everyone’s favourite zombie airline – FlyBe.
Slots are wonderful when you can get them. The next trick is to find times. And it seems that JetBlue is reluctant to announce timings just yet, as this has to integrate not just with Schipols times, but with the main JetBlue master timetable.
Then there’s everything to do with those slots, including the ability to hold onto them for the winter timetable.
Maybe some luck with the recent ruling…
According to the airline, a Dutch court ruled that the Dutch government failed to follow the law when it sought to reduce the cap on Amsterdam Airport Schiphol’s annual air traffic movements, giving JetBlue confidence there is room for it to enter the market.
It’s been a source of unhappiness with KLM and other airlines as it constrains their planned growth, whilst conflicting with the Dutch government’s ecological goals.
JetBlue wants to serve Amsterdam from its New York-JFK and Boston-Logan hubs, akin to its London and planned Paris operation.
In Quotes
Robin Hayes, chief executive officer, JetBlue said
“This route is long overdue for some competition,”
“For too long the U.S. legacy carriers, backed by their joint ventures with other global airlines that enjoy immunity from antitrust laws, have locked customers in with very expensive fares and mediocre service. Just like we’re doing in London and Paris, we will bring fares down and improve the experience for customers flying between the U.S. and Amsterdam.”
He added
“Our formula of combining a customer-centric experience and everyday low fares isn’t something you find in Europe,
“We’re confident that customers, Amsterdam airport officials, and the Dutch government will be delighted by JetBlue when they see first-hand the positive impact we can make and we look forward to working together with Dutch officials to ensure long-term success in the market.”
Opinion: Show me the planned timetable
All this is wonderful. But ultimately, if you’re planning to launch a service, people need to know:
- Dates of operation
- Booking window
- Timings
- Fares
JetBlue has so far announced an intention- not a route.
Whilst they want to use an A321LR on this route, JetBlue has a challenge on that front with only five of them delivered. Considering deliveries of the type are backlogged…
And whilst the summer timetable isn’t set in stone, we are heading to the point where airlines have solidified or are close to wrapping up their plans for summer 2023.
In summary: We’ll see.
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Their press release said “late summer”, but they’d only secured temporary slots from late March until October of this year, with no further commitment from AMS for even seasonal service next year (unless that all changed since the last report I saw.)
Given their shortage of A320LRs, the delivery delays, the XLRs not even starting delivereies until next year (fingers crossed), and Paris starting late June, I just don’t see this happening in 2023.