In recent years, we’ve seen JetBlue expand with transatlantic flying, though the airline has seemingly had mixed luck with this, with several routes being pulled after a season or two, or being reduced from year-round to seasonal. The airline has now announced plans to add two new transatlantic routes in 2026, both of which are new destinations for the airline.
JetBlue expands summer transatlantic flying from Boston
JetBlue has revealed that it plans to add two new summer seasonal long haul routes from Boston Logan (BOS) as of the summer 2026 season, to Barcelona (BCN) and Milan (MXP). The flights will both operate nonstop seasonally, with the Barcelona service launching on April 16, and the Milan service launching on May 11.
The flights are expected to go on sale as of Thursday, November 20, 2025, so the schedules for the flights will be revealed then. The airline claims that these routes “further solidify the airline’s role as Boston’s leading leisure airline, bringing customers in New England to top vacation destinations in the U.S., the Caribbean, Latin America, Canada and Europe.”
Here’s how JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty describes this new service:
“As we expand our New England footprint with new service from Boston to Barcelona and Milan, we’re bringing more travelers the elevated service that has redefined transatlantic air travel, including our award-winning Mint premium experience Customers flying to Europe with JetBlue enjoy the kind of thoughtful design, privacy, and hospitality they simply won’t find with legacy carriers, and we’re proud to continue delivering incredible value and style on both sides of the Atlantic.”
JetBlue will serve nine European destinations from Boston
With these latest route additions, JetBlue will serve a total of a nine European destinations out of Boston next summer. These include Amsterdam (AMS), Barcelona (BCN), Dublin (DUB), Edinburgh (EDI), London Gatwick (LGW), London Heathrow (LHR), Madrid (MAD), Milan (MXP), and Paris (CDG).
That’s quite an impressive network, and it’s interesting (but not surprising) that JetBlue has had more luck out of Boston than out of New York (JFK), given the competitive landscape.
In Boston, JetBlue mainly faces competition from Delta, which is of course a tough competitor. JetBlue has the same network to Europe out of Boston as Delta does, except it doesn’t fly to Athens (ATH), Lisbon (LIS), or Rome (FCO). I imagine Athens and Rome are both not served due to aircraft range issues, while it’s interesting that JetBlue hasn’t attempted Lisbon flights.
I mean, these new routes should do okay for JetBlue. There’s a ton of transatlantic demand in summer to Italy and Spain, so JetBlue should have no issues filling these planes. The question is just what kind of yields the airline can get, given the general yield disadvantage it has compared to Delta, plus the challenging economics of flying narrow body planes in long haul markets.
JetBlue loses money, so I suppose it’s not a question of whether the flights will be profitable, but rather, if they’ll be less unprofitable than other routes.
Bottom line
JetBlue has announced two new transatlantic routes for the summer of 2026, as the airline will fly from Boston to both Barcelona and Milan. These are two new cities for JetBlue, and it reflects JetBlue’s continued transatlantic growth in Boston over New York.
JetBlue will be competing with Delta in these markets, so obviously that’s tough competition. But at least it’s less competition than in New York.
What do you make of JetBlue’s new transatlantic routes?
I love the extra European routes. This helps me avoid Delta. JetBlue FAs are so friendly that it will make the six hours go by fast.
Air Masshole extends its evil grip across more of Europe. Destroy B6. Destroy it now.
JetBlue have actually threatened to sue Lisbon Airport authorities due to the fact they can’t get the slots they *want*. You can see the slots that WestJet got at the airport and understand why JetBlue doesn’t want those slot options.
no Open Skies agreement guarantees slots at times that airlines WANT. LIS does have slots available - just not at good TATL times.
WestJet just announced service to LIS from eastern Canada that arrives LIS about 11.30 at night and leaves at 6 am or so.
It is one thing to deny foreign airlines slots and keep adding flights on local/EU airlines - but that is not happening. LIS has no slots at prime time for anyone.
While DL may be covering the whole network, at least I don't believe there are also European carriers on these new routes (unlike most of the other B6 transatlantic routes).
Even considering LIS is complicated with TAP - who in certain ways operates like a low cost carrier. It would be difficult to compete (let alone undercut) TAPs pricing but you also have a hard time arguing premium when DL is sitting right there
We are sick and tired of airlines adding narrow body flights across the Atlantic.
What difference does it make to the customer?
your assessment of profitability is correct. B6 is just moving airplanes around hoping to generate a profit; given that many in the industry say that there is overcapacity to Europe, it might not be a slam dunk that B6 can make these routes work = but they have no choice but to keep trying.
you almost have to think that DL saw this route announcement coming before they announced expanded service to BCN and MXP....
your assessment of profitability is correct. B6 is just moving airplanes around hoping to generate a profit; given that many in the industry say that there is overcapacity to Europe, it might not be a slam dunk that B6 can make these routes work = but they have no choice but to keep trying.
you almost have to think that DL saw this route announcement coming before they announced expanded service to BCN and MXP.
LIS has significant slot availability issues which explains why B6 is not pushing into that market.
and DL is restarting BOS-TLV so there are 4 international markets that DL serves which B6 does not and likely will not serve.