JetBlue test flight to London

Last Wednesday (14 July) saw the arrival of JetBlue into Europe with a non-stop proving flight from New York JFK to Heathrow with its first long-range Airbus A321.

Often airlines operate proving or training flights in advance of a route launch. This is not only to test the aircraft’s capability but also that of the crew and the ground handling operations at the airport in question.

Maja Gedosev, the airline’s General Manager for Europe, tweeted a video clip earlier this morning:

“As of this time JetBlue is poised for its London launch on August 11 (eastbound) with the return westbound service to New York JFK on August 12.”

Jetblue wants to make a name for itself in the (normally) fiercely competitive transatlantic marketplace.  How the single aisle aircraft is viewed remains to be seen.  Some people say that you only use one aisle even on a wide-bodied aircraft. Others are of the view that with the bigger aircraft there is more room for socialising, even in Economy.  Only time will tell but with ‘back-end’ passengers promised a full service product on board and very attractive fares at a time when passengers are in a shortage it could be we are back to the Freddie Laker “Battle of the Atlantic”.

www.jetblue.com

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John Gee,

Will JetBlue arrive?