JetBlue has just revealed the details of two new transatlantic routes that it intends to launch in the summer of 2025, and it’s great news for those in Boston.
JetBlue adds two transatlantic destinations in 2025
In 2021, we saw JetBlue launch transatlantic routes, with its new Airbus A321LR aircraft. Many passengers were excited about this, given JetBlue’s great onboard product. However, this service hasn’t turned out to be the cash cow that the airline hoped.
We’ve seen JetBlue greatly shake up its transatlantic network to focus on profitability. This has included cutting some transatlantic flying in winter, and canceling money losing routes in summer.
Recently, JetBlue revealed that for this upcoming summer, it wouldn’t operate its seasonal New York to London Gatwick flight, and also wouldn’t bring back its second daily New York to Paris flight. We now know JetBlue’s new plans with these aircraft.
The new flights are already on sale (keep in mind there are good deals to be had when redeeming Qatar Airways Avios for JetBlue Mint, as it offers much better value than JetBlue TrueBlue).
JetBlue Boston to Edinburgh flight details
Between May 22 and October 25, 2025, JetBlue plans to operate daily flights between Boston (BOS) and Edinburgh, Scotland (EDI). The flight will operate with the following schedule:
B61079 Boston to Edinburgh departing 10:30PM arriving 10:10AM (+1 day)
B61080 Edinburgh to Boston departing 12:10PM arriving 2:22PM
The 3,070-mile flight is blocked at 6hr40min eastbound and 7hr12min westbound. JetBlue plans to use a 160-seat Airbus A321neo for the route, featuring two Mint Studios, 14 Mint Suites, 42 Even More Space seats, and 102 standard economy seats.
JetBlue will be going head-to-head against Delta in the market, which also operates a seasonal flight with a Boeing 767-300ER. This won’t be JetBlue’s first time flying to Edinburgh, as the airline launched a seasonal New York to Edinburgh route in 2024, and it’ll be returning in 2025.
JetBlue Boston to Madrid flight details
Between May 23 and October 25, 2025, JetBlue plans to operate daily flights between Boston (BOS) and Madrid, Spain (MAD). The flight will operate with the following schedule:
B62261 Boston to Madrid departing 10:25PM arriving 11:30AM (+1 day)
B62260 Madrid to Boston departing 1:30PM arriving 3:20PM
The 3,410-mile flight is blocked at 7hr5min eastbound and 7hr50min westbound. JetBlue plans to use a 138-seat Airbus A321LR for the route, featuring two Mint Studios, 22 Mint Suites, 24 Even More Space seats, and 90 standard economy seats.
JetBlue will be going head-to-head against Iberia in the market, which operates up to twice daily year-round flights with Airbus A321XLRs. This will be JetBlue’s first time flying to Madrid.
My take on JetBlue’s transatlantic additions
It’s fascinating to see how JetBlue’s transatlantic network is evolving, especially in an era where it seems like demand for summer travel across the Atlantic is endless:
- JetBlue seems to see more potential in Boston than in New York as a transatlantic gateway, as this coming summer the airline will serve more European destinations out of Boston than out of New York
- It’s interesting how JetBlue is cutting frequencies from New York to both London and Paris in order to make these routes work; it certainly counters the traditional wisdom out there, regarding there being no such thing as too many routes to places like France in summer
While most of Europe is hot with inbound tourism in summer, there’s no denying that Greece, Italy, and Spain, are probably the three hottest countries, especially in terms of growth of demand. It’s logical to see JetBlue expanding to Spain. The challenge is that Greece and Italy aren’t really within range for JetBlue’s existing aircraft, until the airline acquires its Airbus A321XLRS (well, if/when that happens)
Ultimately JetBlue’s challenge across the Atlantic is that it’s not easy to operate independently, outside of the major joint ventures. Furthermore, JetBlue doesn’t have much cargo capacity on its narrow body jets. And as nice as JetBlue’s passenger experience is, the airline isn’t able to command the fares or generate the loyalty revenue of its “big three” counterparts.
I still think JetBlue launching transatlantic flights probably wasn’t the right business move, but obviously the company’s current management team is trying to make the best of the situation, and utilize planes as profitably as possible.
Bottom line
In the summer of 2025, JetBlue will launch new daily nonstop seasonal flights from Boston to both Edinburgh and Madrid. It’s interesting to see JetBlue’s focus on Boston, and also to see that the airline has more faith in these markets than it does in offering more service from New York to London and Paris.I hope these routes perform well, as I’m rooting for JetBlue’s success!
What do you make of JetBlue’s new transatlantic destinations?
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