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JetBlue makes its London Gatwick flights seasonal

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JetBlue’s financial woes have been widely documented; the airline has failed to turn a profit since before the pandemic, and a new leadership team was brought in earlier this year to try to turn the ship around.

Whilst the airline has continued with its transatlantic plans, opening up Paris, Amsterdam, Edinburgh and Dublin over the past year, rumours of capacity cuts at Gatwick have come true.

JetBlue has now said it will only operate flights from the airport seasonally, rather than year round. Flights between Gatwick and Boston will pause on 1st October, whilst flights to New York will pause on 26th October. Both routes will resume from 12th June.

JetBlue makes its Gatwick flights seasonal

London is the only European city where JetBlue operates from two airports as it was unable to get enough slots at Heathrow. At the moment it flies five times daily from London to the US, with a single daily departure from Gatwick to both Boston and New York.

From the end of October, this will reduce to three flights per day, all from Heathrow: two to New York and one to Boston.

Edinburgh is also being tweaked with 2025 flights starting three weeks later than planned on 22nd May. Dublin will restart on 17th April rather than 30th March.

JetBlue operates its transatlantic flights with a fleet of A321LRs, including 24 business class seats. You can read my (positive) review of JetBlue Mint Suite (business class) here, image below.

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Comments (30)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Solo says:
    29 Aug29 August 05:50

    Are the QF9/10 flights still 240 tier points each way in J? I’ll be in Sydney for work, and I’m considering this alongside Qatar. I’m aiming to maximise my tier points, so this looks pretty attractive.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      29 Aug29 August 07:08

      If only there was a handy tool to use!

      https://www.britishairways.com/travel/flight-calculator/public/en_gb

    • Deek says:
      29 Aug29 August 07:14

      According to the BA TP calculator it’s 240 in J, however you’d get 300 if you do a stopover on QR or one of the other OW airlines.

    • JDB says:
      29 Aug29 August 07:15

      Qatar will earn you 300 (140 + 160) vs Qantas the 240 you cite above. Obviously the higher TP requires a transit but for many, it seems like a bonus to be able to stretch one’s legs during the journey.

      • Andrew J says:
        29 Aug29 August 07:26

        The OP cites SYD as the final destination – which is 140 TP each way on QF in J. So that’s 380 total TPs from LHR to SYD via PER rather than QR’s 300 LHR to SYD via DOH.

  • Irons1980 says:
    29 Aug29 August 07:49

    You’re all wrong – London Perth is 240 in business and Perth Sydney is 140 earning you 380 total… I know because I did it in March.
    Return Sydney to London via Singapore was only 240 however

    • Deek says:
      29 Aug29 August 07:56

      It’s not wrong, the direct flight will be 240 – you’re just suggesting a different route. Btw you could get 420 TP if you were prepared to do LHR-DOH-PER-SYD.

      • Deek says:
        29 Aug29 August 07:58

        Ah I see QF9 is mentioned, apologies I was referring to the direct flight in the article.

    • Solo says:
      29 Aug29 August 20:49

      Thanks that’s what I meant (LHR-PER-SYD). Now need to decide if I’m mentally prepared for 17 hours on QF

      • John says:
        29 Aug29 August 22:52

        With the flight timings of QF9/10 it’s not materially different from a Europe to Asia, just make sure you fill up in the lounge beforehand

      • Irons80 says:
        30 Aug30 August 02:35

        It’s much better in my opinion – it’s a long flight and a bit boring but landing in evening in Sydney for a proper sleep the next day is much more preferable to landing morning 2 days later and then having to work (I was travelling for work)
        Only annoyance was that if you’re flying to Sydney you have to switch to domestic so you can’t use the flash international lounge in Perth – the flight technically carried on to Melbourne, although I think that’s been dropped too and now it terminates in Perth.

  • Tony says:
    29 Aug29 August 07:52

    Another nail in Gatwicks coffin!

    • Sean says:
      29 Aug29 August 08:16

      They had their busiest summer so far. I don’t think it’s going too badly for them.

    • Bernard says:
      29 Aug29 August 13:19

      That would be the same Gatwick where BA, Singapore, and Asian airlines are all adding wide body long haul services then?
      The same Gatwick likely to get approved for a second runway?

  • Blair Waldorf Salad says:
    29 Aug29 August 10:51

    “Aer Lingus also offered a 50% discount on the flights if booked early”

    Presumably they had to do this because for years the Irish market has been using Avios collected with AerClub as a discount off cash fares during the booking process. People in Ireland are regularly stunned when I mention the concept of reward seats.

    • Rob says:
      29 Aug29 August 11:49

      This is happening in the UK, you (as a long timer) just don’t notice it. I got an email this week from a UK reader (well, more likely a Google searcher who found us) who also didn’t understand the concept. They thought you could only use Avios to discount cash seats.

      • Blair Waldorf Salad says:
        29 Aug29 August 12:42

        The discount option was always more prominent on the EI website though, and that route to use Avios the one covered on traditional and social media in Ireland.

        Long timer – he means reader of the site, not age related! 😭

  • Nick says:
    29 Aug29 August 11:50

    Can someone with a better memory remind me… did QF sell or lease their other two Heathrow slots? Wondering if the Sunrise flight will have to replace or could supplement the current one.

    • Blair Waldorf Salad says:
      29 Aug29 August 13:03

      Oh yes I think you’re right. And I think it was a lease to BA. I am too new to LHR as my home airport to know this – do BA have a genuine need to be present in T3 for capacity reasons or are they just slot-sitting to hedge their bets across 2 terminals?

      • JDB says:
        29 Aug29 August 15:58

        It’s not so much slot sitting as squatting at T3. They don’t strictly need to be there but if they were to leave there would be no prospect of them ever getting back in so they are hedging their bets as they are by operating at Gatwick as cheaply as possible. Not sure what will happen when T3 closes!

        • Nick says:
          29 Aug29 August 16:44

          Slots are airfield- not terminal-dependent. BA operates out of two terminals simply because there isn’t the capacity in one to handle all their passengers.

          T3 works best because of the sheer volume of connections (in both directions) between them and AA. There was a discussion at HAL last year about possibly shunting them back to T4 instead but thankfully that got shelved.

          • Blair Waldorf Salad says:
            29 Aug29 August 17:32

            T4 wouldn’t be a problem for connections if there was a suitable mass people mover. The current situation of cramped buses with no delineation of J/F passengers from the rest is intolerable. Bus queueing in flight connections is where all decorum and politeness goes to die.

  • Neil says:
    29 Aug29 August 14:07

    For Jet Blue, if I book a flight and want to get avios do I need to do it through the Qatar website or can I just add my privilege club number when I book?

  • ADS says:
    29 Aug29 August 22:54

    “Qantas is investing in a fleet of modified A350-1000s that will be able to fly the route with ease, and open up even longer non-stop flights to London from Sydney and Melbourne”

    but presumably the A350s will be approaching their limit for LHR-SYD … so when war intervenes the (future) non stop LHR-SYD flights will stop being non stop just like what happened with LHR-PER

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